21 Days of Miley Stewart
by MileyNick123
Summary: This is the 21 day story on how the great, or not so great, Nick Grey changed forever. And it all starts on Day 1, with me walking straight into the life of a mysterious, precious, deathly frustrating little creature named Miley Ray Stewart.
1. Prologue

_**A/N: This is my new story. I decided to make the sneak peek on the sampler as the prologue for new readers. I hope you guys enjoy this story. I already have the first three chapters ready, but I'll pace uploading it. Hope you enjoy it. (P.S. I changed some things from the original copy, but it**_

I, Nick Grey, have officially concluded one thing from my whole 23 years of living.

My life sucks.

Yeah. All 23 years and that's it… It didn't used to be like this. I mean, I used to rule the world, and by world, I mean my small hometown that I've been stuck in since, I don't know, birth… Samson, New Jersey. Believe it or not, I had the whole world in my hands in high school; the glory days; the 4 greatest tears of my now sorry life. I had the whole quarter back, Prom King, party guy thing going on. Guys wanted to be part of my crowd, girls wanted to date me… and more… there was always more.

And then, somehow in some way, those four incredible golden years disappeared from under my feet and next thing I know, I'm standing on stage in an itchy, hot, and sweaty graduation gown in front of parents and teachers flashing me that, _you're going to do great things_ smile…

If they only knew how wrong they were.

And it pretty much went downhill from there. People, classmates, friends… They all moved away to do bigger and better things this tiny hickory hobo town couldn't give them. Unlike me, they actually followed those smiles their parents and mentors flashed that day that marked the fall of my pathetic excuse of a life. Maybe I could have done things too, actually have made a difference… but I was probably too busy trying to distract the nerdy, already shakily nervous, valedictorian sitting next to me to even take a notice. From what I heard, that valedictorian made it all the way to Washington D.C. and is working with the big boys up in Congress. Yup. That kid was sure as hell paying attention to those damn smiles.

Even Taylor Mayson, the high school blonde and airhead managed to escape this death trap of a town to go to fashion school somewhere in LA. My high school buddy Joe Locke moved on and moved into some big fancy studio up in the Big Apple. Demi Monroe, his girlfriend from pretty much 1st grade, moved up there with him and just got an internship for a law firm in the upper east side of New York. (They call once in awhile to brag about their big- shot lives that I obviously don't have.) So Demi, who I've been friends with since pretty much… forever, defends the one type of people I can't stand the most; filthy rich business men who waste their time drowning themselves in heavy cologne, reminding everyone how rich they are, and of course, cheating on their cocktail- party planning, pearl necklace wearing, wives for cheap on- the- street prostitutes.

But, of course, no one thinks about those facts when it comes to people as wealthy as that. All they know is that if you have money, you've got to be freakin happy.

Wrong. Stupid little pricks.

Me, for example, I have absolutely no money except for my small wages (if you can even call it that) from helping fix cars down at old John's garage, I'm living in a beaten- down old apartment that I can barely pay rent for, and I'm perfectly…

Actually, I might not be the best example.

But complaining about my sorry godforsaken life isn't the reason I'm telling this story. I'm telling this story because it actually means something compared to all the other bullcrap that they now somehow call literature. It might bore you, it might make you wish you hadn't picked up this story from the very beginning…

But honestly, I don't give a damn. Because this is MY story to tell. This is the 21 day story on how the great, or not so great, Nick Grey changed forever.

And it all starts on Day 1, with me walking straight into the life of a mysterious, precious, deathly frustrating little creature with auburn hair the color of rusting leaves and storm gray eyes that would clear out everything in your mind except her.

This creature's name, you may ask?

Let's just call her Miley.

Miley Ray Stewart.


	2. Day One

"The sun should just die," I mumbled to myself as I wiped my forehead with the back of my palm. I felt like I was melting into the goddamn ground… But what else did you expect in a town like Samson, New Jersey where the only exciting thing that happens is when someone decides to run around town naked. And lately, that hasn't been happening much either.

I tried breathing from my mouth for the next few minutes, but that got annoying. So instead, I was forced to take in the musky and dust- covered garage that made up Old John's Car Garage. I had found out about this place… well, technically, everyone knows this place since it's been part of this town since pretty much the middle ages, but when I REALLY REALLY found this place and took my first step into this piece of junk, I was pretty much broke and just got out of high school. Old John called me in and saw what a sorry mess I was and found a heart under that old skin to hire me. I've been working here ever since. It's not much, but it pays the bills for my small apartment, my car, and fast food take- out. That's all I need in life to get through.

Not to mention that all I ever do in this godforsaken job is pass him tools, answers phone calls, and get yelled at for slacking off on the job. I mean, I'm basically getting paid to lounge around and do absolutely nothing. I call that an accomplishment on my part.

"PASS ME THE WRENCH!" an old scratchy, let alone annoying voice screamed out. That, boys and girls, would be my boss Old John… Yeah. No one ever really ever found out what the guy's last name was. All we know is that he's been working in this old beaten up garage, if you can even call this shed one, and he's been a member in this town since… um… Forever. The guy's like 89 years old, and he still manages to fix all cars every day for the last half of his life. I always had a fear that I would come in to work one day and find the old guy dead on the ground from a heart- attack that should be coming around at any time now. Gruesome, I know, but you can't blame me. This guy is ANCIENT.

Firstly, let me give you a short mental image of my boss. He's got that pale white hair that's everywhere except on the actual top of his head, he has this musky little mustache he's been trying to grow for decades now, and his skin basically looks like waves in an ocean, drooping all over the place. But I mean, if you got pass all that appearance stuff, he actually wasn't that bad a guy. He was pretty damn funny, let me tell you. He's one of those people who could make you laugh no matter what, and it's not even just a snort or a giggle. With ol' John, you have to fall on the floor or at least laugh until your start crying your eyes out for no damn reason. This guy must have been the man when he was older. I always wondered why he was never married. I tried to ask him once about having a wife, but he snapped and called me a snoop that needs to butt out of everyone else's business. Not to mention, he cut my pay for the next few days. I was kind of curious to know why that simple question got his grandpa diapers in a twist, but by the next day, I stopped caring.

"Here ya go, Boss," I threw him the wrench, and he caught it easily with one hand. This guy was still pretty damn strong and flexible for someone his age. He mumbled something about how lazy I was to walk over to him, but he just pushed himself back under the car and left the mumbling to himself. I sighed, a wave of relief rolling over me. If anyone knew how to scream, it was this guy right here. He's one of the only people who have ever made me want to cry…

I didn't of course.

But still, the fact I wanted to was pretty damn big.

I walked over to a beaten down old couch that I had made myself comfortable in for the past few years I had been working here. It was the only piece of furniture out in the whole garage unless you count the hard pain- in- the- butt (literally) metal chairs that's in his office. It wasn't too bad. Shabby at some points of view, but at least it was something. I chewed lazily on my piece of gum as I watched the clock's hands move and move and move.

Almost there….

Almost there…

Finally, I grinned as I watched the clock hands reach its destination. I stood up and dusted off my jeans though there most probably wouldn't be anything on it. I guess it's just a guy thing. "John!" I called out, stretching out my limbs as if I had just woken up from a nap (I wish.) The old guy pulled out from underneath the car with an oil stain painted on one whole side of his face. I motioned towards it with my hand. "There's um, something on your face."

He swiped at his face once, doing absolutely nothing to get it off. I sighed knowing that taking that stain off might as well have been waiting until tomorrow. This guy was slow in the mind, if you know what I mean. "Is it gone?"

I gave him an approving smile. "Mhmm. Definitely."

The old guy was about to roll back under the car when he stopped. "Wait. Why did you call me again?"

I chewed on my gum as I answered. "You said I could leave early today because of that family thing I had today."

"That family thing?"

"Yeah. That family thing." (A.K.A. Going home and taking nap for a few hours before spending the rest of the night watching TV or going out to the bar with some friends who ended up like me; forever stuck in this god- forsaken town.)

"You never talk about your family, kid. I just realized that," Ol' John raised an eyebrow before spitting out a huge wad of spit to the ground next to him. Lovely.

I shrugged casually. "There's nothing to tell."

"Right," he shrugged as if he didn't believe me. Family wasn't really a thing I wanted to talk about, let alone to some old guy like John. He'd just make everything bigger than it is. He'd just give me some huge moral Confucius talk about life and what I need to do to change the world and crap like that. And right now, the head- ache building at the base of my forehead knew that that was the last thing I needed right now. "So when are you leaving?"

"I was thinking around now?" I flashed him the best 'charming' smile I had practiced so well on in high school. Girls would drop like flies with this grin, but then again, Old John wasn't exactly a teenage girl.

"Damn, boy. You just got here like two hours ago. Not to mention you do crap here. What do you do? I don't even know why I hired you in the first place…" John squinted through his baggy eyes. Honestly, I couldn't remember why he hired me either, but at the moment it was the last of my concern. I just flashed him another winning grin, hoping he was in a good mood.

"Listen, the family um, thing is soon and I really have to go. I'll make up for it tomorrow, John! I swear on my dog's life."

John heaved a long shaky frustrated sigh, but I knew I won him over. "You don't have a dog, do you boy?"

I smirked. Sometimes the old guy knew me too well. "Nope, sir, but I've always wanted one. Does that count?"

He sighed again, and I started wondering whether it was still for me or if he was just running out of breath from all this talk. The guy definitely didn't look like in a healthy age to be screaming this much, but then again, he didn't look like he was in a healthy age to be spending so much time under cars either. "Fine," he mumbled. "But boy, you are so lost."

My winning grin wavered. "What do you mean, sir? I think I know where I'm—"

He shook his head in a way that annoyed me. I felt like I was left outside of an inside joke that John had with himself. If there was one thing I hated, it was being left out of something, now knowing what was going on. I always had to be the one who knew everything first, or else there'd be hell to pay. "Never mind, boy. Just come back early tomorrow. One more day you come in late, and I'm kicking your butt out of this here garage, you hear me?"

I made a quick sarcastic salute and bowed slightly. "Loud and clear, boss."

Miraculously, a small smirk twisted onto ol' John's lips as he shoo'd me away. "Now go away before I change my mind and kick you out a day early."

I flashed him another smirk before grabbing my jacket and making my way out to the hot sidewalk where the rest of the small town, which wasn't much, waited around me. I had been born, raised, beaten up, kissed, worshiped, yelled at, cheered at, graduated, and probably even eventually die in this damn town. It was kind of sickening. The farthest place I've been to outside of Samson, New Jersey was for a school field trip to some museum in the next town in second grade. I hardly count that as a traveling experience either since I had gotten in trouble for spitting gum onto another girl's hair, but hey, it wasn't my fault. I couldn't find a damn trash can anywhere. So there I was, left alone at the bus to wait for the rest of my classmates to come back from their 'fun learning experience' about old people from the past. I ended up playing a few round of cards with the bus driver though, which made up for it. Too bad the only card games I knew back then was Go Fish.

"Nick Grey?" I heard a loud gasp sound behind me. I turned around annoyed, wanting to hurry up to my nap with no distractions. Grumbling curse words under my breathe, I turned around to come face to face with a pretty golden blond woman around her mid- 20's, pretty much the same age as me. She looked so damn familiar but then again, in a town like this everyone kinda did. "Do I know you?" I asked with a cocked eyebrow and a winning grin. Though this hot lady was a complete stranger, she was still hot, and I wasn't going to pass her up. The woman's face flushed like a freakin' tomato. I never did understand why girls would do that from the simplest things guys said. Even when it was an insult. I had to go through high school with every damn girl blushing every freaking five seconds. Their faces would all just turn blotchy and sick looking. I mean, what guy wants to make- out with a girl who looks like a stupid plate of ketchup all the time?

No one.

"Oh. We used to date in high school. Or at least we hooked up after homecoming, and a few times after that," she explained, her hands moving in such distracting hand motions that I almost didn't hear a single word she said. But something about some chick after home- coming started bringing back memories.

"Ah! Casey, right?"

"Um… No. It's Jessica."

Woops.

She blushed like a tomato again. How did I ever hook up with this girl if she kept doing this to her pretty little face. "Right… Jessica. I remember," though I really didn't. See, boys and girls, the one sole trick to satisfy the opposite sex is to tell them what they want to hear. In that case, no one gets hurt… or cursed at… or slapped… Trust me. I know what I'm talking about.

"So you still live here? Wow…" She smiled, her blue eyes twinkling in a way that annoyed me. I must have been drunk that home- coming. Definitely.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked feeling slightly offended and confused. Her face became a tomato once again. "I just meant that I thought you would leave this town. Everyone did. I mean, you can't really start much of a career in a town like this… Wow… I can't believe you still live here…" She rambled on in a high pitch voice that was already started to get on my nerves, forgetting the fact that she basically called my life stupid and worthless… which it was… But still. That didn't give her the right to tell me how retarded my life is. Only I could do that.

"And what are you doing here if you're such a hot- shot?" I spit back, all thoughts of hitting on this girl gone. She seemed a little taken back at my tone of voice.

"I'm here for the five year high school reunion in 2 weeks. Just came in early to visit a few people and friends."

"Oh crap. The reunion is that close?" I cocked my head trying to remember where I had put that stupid frilly invitation, but for some reason the only thing coming to my mind was that I had run out of napkins… Oh well.

"Yeah! I can't wait to see everyone and how they're doing! Aren't you?" she squealed in absolute delight. I think I just threw up in my mouth.

"Right," I mumbled.

"Do you still keep in touch with your whole group?" she kept on grinning, like the edges of her lips were stapled to the sides of her face.

"Group?"

"You know, the whole posse from high school. Joe, Kevin, Demi, Selena, Taylor?"

"Posse? You make it sound like we're part of that Scooby Doo thing." She blushed again. Damn. What was up with this girl. "And yeah. They keep in touch."

"I heard that Demi and Joe are law—"

"Yeah, listen," I cut her off, really not in the mood to listen to anything she has to say anymore. Right now, all I wanted my was long awaited nap. "It was nice to see you Joanna, but I have some really important plans made."

"My name is Jessi—"

I walked away, pretending not to have heard another high pitched sound to escape her ruby red lips. I hummed a small lullaby my mom used to always sing to me before I had pushed her away telling her that I was too old to be sung to. But I still remember every note in the song. The only problem was the words. No matter how much I tried to fill them in, to remember the words my mother sang to me, it would only end up in a jumble of randomness. Nothing would ever fit.

As I neared the end of the song where a slow melancholy tune began to stretch out of my pursed lips, a round of loud voices caught my attention. I passed a dark alley that led to the back of my apartment that no one ever used anymore since it had become a popular place for the town gangs to get together. I peeped into the dark alley and found a group of guys around the age of 25 to 30 surrounding a person who seemed to be crying in the middle. It didn't take a freakin' rocket scientist to figure out that she wasn't there on her own will. I felt my body freeze and the small hairs on the back of my neck stand up to a straight point as a pair of tearing storm gray eyes met mine. The small connection caused a jolt of mysterious energy to pass through me.

As if a reflex, I ran down the dark alley at the fastest pace my legs could go, and on the way, I picked up a thick branch that was sharp enough to stab someone if I used it well enough. I honestly had no idea what the hell I was doing or what I was going to do, but I knew from the moment that my eyes met that sea of gray that I was supposed to do something. Save her.

The gang member's heads turned to me as they heard my approaching storm of footsteps. Some, I recognized were guys that I had even graduated with. "Get away from her!" I growled out, holding the tick branch in front of me defensively. I would easily kills these song of a bitches if they tried anything. I wasn't afraid of them.

At first, the group of pant- sagging guys held their fists up challenging me, but one guy stepped out from the rest of the crowd. His face looked so damn familiar and those green eyes that reminded you of the color of leaves in the first day of spring spiked up memories that I just couldn't piece together.

"Nick Grey? The one and only Nick Grey?" The green- eyed stranger exclaimed in awe. I felt myself stare at him a bit more before finally realizing where I had seen him before.

"Liam? Liam Powers?" I asked, my jaw probably slamming into the damn floor. This freakin' guy standing in front of me was Liam fucking Powers. You see, as I told you, I was the one King who effing ruled the Samson High School's class of 05. But before senior year, I wasn't the only one. Liam Powers used to be the one all girls wanted to get. Liam Powers was the one drowned upon in gifts and worshipers. Liam Powers was the one guy that could get absolutely anything he wanted, whenever he wanted, from whoever he wanted. He was literally THE man. And I had been his wingman up until the first half of junior year where he met some bad people and fell into the wrong crowd. It didn't take a genius to know that his life was going downhill fast, and I, being the horrible friend I was, just stood there and watched it all happen.

By the next month, he was out of school. Whether it was because he dropped out or he was expelled, no one ever knew, but it didn't really matter. His spot in the social hierarchy of high school was left wide open, and I, being second in command was left to fill his place. Soon, I was the one being mooned over and being asked out by every damn girl in the school. I was being followed, and it felt goddamn good. I mean, Liam and I stayed in touch, but it wasn't for that long before he did his next big bad- ass stunt and moved out from home. His parents went crazy, but he hid out until he was 18, where he could be legally free from his parent's grasps.

I heard on his 18th birthday, he came back to pick up a few things before finally disappearing again for the last and final time. Who knew this kid was hiding out in town the whole time.

"Wow, man. It's been a while," Liam grinned.

"Yeah. It has," I smirked, suddenly wanting an urge to talk to him about what was going on with him, but then I remember the circumstances. And the reason I had come here in the first place. "What's with the girl?" I asked, trying to sound casual, when the truth was I was kind of pissed off. Usually, when things like this happened, I would walk away and let the damn police do their own work, but something about this girl got to me. I don't know what.

"It's none of your business," a second guy stepped up, and I instantly recognized him as one of the leaders of the gangs. His picture was everyone in town. He was one of the most top wanted.

"Tyler," Liam pushed him back. "Calm down. I know him from way back. He's not going to tell."

"What he said," I mumbled quickly. Because honestly, that damn Tyler guy kind of scared the crap out of me. He was the kind of guy who had all those snake- like tattoos crawling all over his arms. Oh, and his arms, they were most probably the size of both my legs, but with 5 times more muscle. And from the look in his eyes, he wouldn't give a damn about killing a person. The guy probably lost his conscience years ago (or if he was even born with one).

"We found her wandering the streets by herself. She had a pretty large purse, and we just needed some cash. That's all," Liam shrugged casually. I looked through the crowd of guys and saw the girl was still shaking as she stared up at me with an intense stare. I felt another burst of energy pulse through me as I met her eyes. Damn. They were beautiful.

"Well, what are you going to do with her?"

"I don't know," Liam shrugged, glancing back at her like she was merely a piece of trash he needed to get rid of. "She was a kicker though. She almost punched some of the guy's eyes out."

For some damn reason, I found the whole thing hilarious. I actually laughed out loud from imagining this small petite creature lying in front of me holding her small fists out to guys that were most probably 7 times bigger than her. "I'll take care of it, if you want."

"What are you going to do with her?"

I shrugged. "Things."

The whole group of guys broke into hoots and smirks, and I just played along. The girl trashed around on the ground as she tried to work her way out of the guy's arms that was holding her back. Her eyes stared at me with a hint of almost hate, and for some reason, all I wanted to do was tell her that it was going to be okay, to soothe her until she could finally smile. Goddamn. That was all I really wanted right now. To see this girl smile.

"Fine. Take her," Tyler spit out, but before he let her go he threw her at the large metal dumpsters, her head slamming into the piece of metal before she fell onto the floor unmoving.

"What the hell?" I screamed, running to her as if she had a magnetic force that was pulling me towards that direction.

Tyler shrugged as if he had done absolutely nothing. A small smirk was even playing on his lips. I hated him already. "I had to. Couldn't let this one go conscious and running around town telling everyone about us. It was either that or killing her." He walked over and gripped the girl's face in his dirty hands. "But this one is too pretty to waste, don't you think?" The gang hooted again. I felt an urge to slap his hand away, but I pushed it back. What was going on with me?

Finally, the guy pushed her limp body into my arms. I tried my best to be gentle as I carried her bridal style. She was still unconscious, and I would have been worried if it wasn't for the small sounds of her breathing that was now buried in my neck. My body shuddered in response. This girl was a complete stranger and she was already killing me… in her sleep…

"When she wakes up, tell her everything was a dream. She's most probably going to be really confused."

"What? What do I tell her when she wakes up in my apartment?"

Tyler smirked and began to walk away with the rest of the gang. "I don't know. Think a little, oh great Nick Grey," he teased, and the whole group broke into snorts of laughter.

Annoying little pricks.

Grumbling a few unmentionable curse words, I shifted the sleeping girl in my arms and began to walk home. I knew a nap was out of the question now. Maybe it's because I really didn't want to sleep anymore. Because honestly, all I wanted to do was wait to watch this creature wake up and stare me with those goddamn beautiful eyes once again.


	3. Day Two

How long can a person sleep? Honestly. This girl's been passed out on my bed for the last 4 hours. I ended up even out- napping her. Of course, I couldn't just leave her on the couch, so I gave her my bed instead, though it really wasn't much of an upgrade. She was still breathing and no sign that she got a concussion kept me calm, but still. For all I knew, she could be in a coma right now. Sighing, I placed a stool on the side of my bed as I watched her sleep peacefully. She looked so damn beautiful with that lightly tanned skin and the way her long waves of auburn hair cascaded down her back.

A goddess is officially sleeping on my bed, I concluded.

I couldn't help but stare in awe even more. I felt like such a creep, just sitting there and watching her sleep without her even knowing about it, let alone the fact that I don't even know who the hell this girl is. She's gorgeous, that's a fact. She sleeps like a bear, that's another fact. And she has the cutest sight of drool escaping her thin pink lips… Goddamn. Did I just think drool looked cute? What the hell is happening to me?

But still, I couldn't help but stare even more. I tried doing as much as I could to wake her up. Subtle stuff like walking around as loud as I could, making a huge noises while slamming doors, windows and cabinets. I even started talking to myself really loud. Yeah. Talking to MYSELF. You heard me right.

But still. Nothing. She slept on like a baby.

I sighed getting a bit frustrated as I watched her sleep. I reached out a finger and poked her shoulder, hoping that the small contact would at least work. But instead, I felt something. It was that jolt of energy again. A tingle in my chest as my skin touched hers. I swear to god, I saw her own body shiver, but I couldn't be sure. She still continued to sleep like she had felt nothing at all. I stared at my finger and the tender spot of skin on her shoulder that I had just touched eager to feel that rush again. It was something I've definitely never felt with any other girl before, and trust me, I've been with a number of girls. I don't want to seem like a 'player' or anything, because I wasn't just some jerk who made his way through the whole female school body. Don't get me wrong, I loved girls, but I had some standards too.

But all those girls merely seemed like practice. A way to entertain myself along the way, as jerk- like as that sounds. But hey, I can't help it. I'm a guy.

I leaned forward in my chair just a bit more as I brought my finger to her face. Now, it wasn't exactly because I wanted her to wake up, but rather because I had a slight wanting in the pit of my stomach to feel that rush of energy again. Just as my finger was inches above her cheek, her eyes fluttered open, like WIDE OPEN, and I felt myself fly back in shock. Being that I was the idiot I was, I fell off the chair and dropped face- first onto the (luckily) carpeted ground.

I pushed myself off the ground, completely humiliated and I found her sitting straight up in my bed with a pillow in her hand defensively.

"Woah. Put the pillow down. I'm not here to hurt you." I tried to sound soothing, but I ended up sounding like a complete mumbling retard.

"Who are you?" she shrieked, her eyes wide open. Damn. They were beautiful. They were the same color of the sky as it cleared from a day of complete rain. I tried to look at her lips instead, to keep myself from getting distracted, but even that made me lose control. "What are you staring at?"

Crap. Was I really just staring at her boobs?

I gave myself a hard mental slap and managed to shake my head. "Nothing, nothing. I'm just… um… how do I do this? Hm.. Um.."

Goddamn. Why couldn't I get anything out of my mouth?

She seemed a little calmer as she saw how nervous I was. She dropped her 'weapon' on the bed and stared up at me with a challenging gaze. She was definitely a confident one, that's for sure. "What about starting with um, let's see… Telling me who you are, where I am, and WHY I'M IN YOUR BED?" Suddenly, her large gray eyes widened. "Oh my god. We didn't… do anything, right?"

I shook my head a little too quickly, since her little question already started pushing not so appropriate thoughts into my brain. "God no."

"Good," she sighed, though she didn't seem to believe me. She checked to make sure all her clothes were in place before finally looking satisfied. "Next question, who are you?"

"I'm Nick. Nick Grey. But call me Nick. Not Nicholas. Just Nick. No stupid nicknames either," I rambled on.

"Wow. That was specific. I'm guessing you don't like nicknames… Nicky…" she smirked. This one was a tease. Definitely, I concluded with a smirk back.

"No. I don't," I replied stiffly, but I couldn't help but like the way my name had rolled off her tongue. Nicky. It did have a slight ring to it. She kept on staring at me with this intense look in her eyes, and I rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably. Was she checking me out? "Next question?" I coughed awkwardly, breaking her stare.

She shook her head as if she had woken up from a dream (as if she didn't already have enough sleep). "Right. Next question, Where am I?"

"Samson."

"Thanks. That sure helped," she spit back sarcastically. Okay. This girl was kind of ticking me off.

"Samson, New Jersey," I answered back just as cockily.

"I still don't know where that is."

"Obviously, in NEW JERSEY," I said extra slowly.

She rolled her eyes in an adorable way that swiped all hints of annoyance from my mind. "I'm not stupid. I knew where New Jersey is, but how did I get here?"

I shrugged. "Don't ask me."

Just when I thought she'd come back with another one of her sarcastic side comments, her next question shocked me. "I don't remember anything… I don't remember anything…" she whispered to herself. She dropped her head in her hands and she just kept shaking and shaking. I stepped forward awkwardly.

"Are you okay?" I asked softly.

"DO I LOOK OKAY?"

I stared at her deep gray eyes, confused. "Um, Is this a trick question?"

"I can't remember anything," she screamed. "Why can't I remember anything?"

Her freak- out was causing me to freak out. "I don't know. You kind of hit your head when I found you… Maybe that's why…"

"You think?" she sneered sarcastically. Even in the middle of a freak- outs she still never lost that touch of pure sarcasm. Interesting. "And can you explain to me how I managed to hit my head?"

I swallowed a building lump in my throat and shrugged. I rather not go into detail about what happened to her. From what I could tell, she had about enough to worry about. "You um, kinda fell in some sorta way."

Crap. I sucked at this lying thing.

Luckily, the girl seemed to be freaking out too much to even notice my stupidity. "God. I can't even remember my name! HOW CAN YOU FORGET YOUR OWN NAME?"

"Um, I think you should calm down!"

She stopped shaking and stared at me with those goddamn eyes again. "I think we both should calm down…"

I looked down and noticed how quick my own breathing was. This whole situation was getting to my head. I didn't ask for this. All I wanted was for a quick nap and maybe a lucky find of change somewhere in my drawers to get a burger for dinner. I never wanted this. Some memory- wiped lady who's going crazy in my own bed. This was all giving me a damn head- ache.

"Can we talk about this outside? In the living room?" I rubbed the side of my head with my thumb, grumbling as a migraine began to grow. She seemed hesitant, but finally she nodded and jumped off my bed.

"Before we go, can I ask my last question and ask what I was doing in your bed?"

God. She wouldn't shut up for a second. "Because you were passed out and I didn't want you to wake up in a piece of trash I sadly call a couch outside. Happy?"

Her eyes widened in shock and first once she said nothing. I smirked feeling accomplished as I led her out of the room. She had the lightest footsteps that I kept having to turn around to make sure she was still there. And let me tell you, every time I turned around and saw this auburn- haired girl walking inches behind me, I kind of just stood there and stared. It was hard not to. It's been awhile since I've actually had a livng and breathing (let alone extremely attractive) girl over in my apartment. The only ones left in this goddamn town were either whores, married, or in a freaking retirement home.

"So what was your name again?" she asked suddenly polite. I raised an eyebrow at her switch of moods but she just stared back silently. Fine then.

"Nick Grey."

"And you live here?"

"Nah. I just didn't feel like walking all the way back home, so I broke into this house and decided to just drop you off here." Her eyes must have grown at least a couple inches as her mouth flew open. "I'm joking," I chuckled easily. This girl must have gotten hit on the head pretty bad.

"Oh," she mumbled nervously. Did she have ANY sense of humor? She toyed with the end of her hair, as she attempted to straighten it, though it looked pretty damn straight enough to me. "Do you think I should go to the hospital or something?"

I shrugged my shoulders easily. This was the one question I had been dreading since the moment she woke up. They would only question me on how I found her, and then they'll figure out about the gang involvance, and then Tyler would hunt me out, kick my ass and shove it down my throat. No big deal. Psh. No big deal at all.

"You'll have to wait until after the weekend. The next hospital is a town away, and our town clinic is closed on weekends." Technically, it wasn't all lies. I mean, the town clinic was closed on weekends, but the truth was, if the circumstances were different (AKA safer), I would have just drove her down to the other town in a minute. "Plus, maybe you'll gain back your memory by then."

"Maybe," she bit her lip nervously. God, she had beautiful lips. They curved at the ends making it seem like she was smiling even when her eyes said she was doing anything but that. Kinda like at this moment. "But what am I going to do til then? I don't even know who I am. Where am I going to go?"

I sighed a deep exhale, and I knew this question would come out sooner or later. "You can stay here until you figure everything out."

"I couldn't," she shook her head with a sort of pride. "You've already done enough for me."

I sighed again, knowing that this wasn't going to be easy. "Okay. Look. You don't have to act all modest and stuff like that. It's just a waste of both of our times. Life sucks sometimes. I know that. Trust me, I know that way too well, but just take the offer. It's not going to be permanent anyway, and I have no problem with it. Just keep out of my business, and I'll keep out of yours. Okay?"

She seemed a bit shocked at my forwardness, but she didn''t show it too well. "As nice as you made that sound," she sneered sarcastically. "I really can't give you any more trouble. I think I can figure everything out from here."

She stood up, and I stood up just as quickly stopping her with hands. "I'm just saying, but it's either me or Greg down the street. I doubt he has anymore space in his cardboard box either. I think you have better chances down at this dump I call home."

She pushed me away and flashed me a sneer. "Like I said, I can figure everything out from here."

Goddamn, this girl was stubborn. I ran my hands threw my mess of curls exasperated at her refusal. If she didn't make everything so damn complicated, I would have felt sorry for her. I might have even sounded just a bit nicer if she actually made an effort of being nicer back. But no. She just had to come in here and start screaming in my face, in my OWN house… Okay. Well it's technically not mine, since I can barely pay rent, but you get the picture. Not to mention, that I was kind of embarrassed that this girl was rejecting me right in front of my damn face.

"Why do you have to be so stubborn all the time? Do you have any idea about how frustrating and ANNOYING you are?" I threw my hands up with exaggeration.

Her face burned up from my sudden outburst. "Hm. I don't know. Why AM I so annoying?" she sneered. God, this girl just couldn't drop the sarcasm for a minute. "Well, why do you have to be an asshole all the time?"

"Because I want to!"

"That's not even an answer."

That really got to me. No girl, let alone stranger who I had the decency to take care of and shelter would talk to me like this in my own house. I glared at her with all the anger and hate I could gather up and gave her the clear message that was probably blaring through my eyes. Surprisingly, she seemed to get the message loud and clear as she huffed away and slammed the door behind her.

For some reason, I felt my heart drop the moment the door closed shut. Though she had only been here for a few hours, the small apartment already looked smaller and lonelier than usual. Good riddance, I mumbled to myself, but I still had a hint of doubt pushing through the barricades of my mind. What the hell was wrong with me? I only knew the girl for like 5 minutes, and I … I actually missed her?

Maybe she wasn't the only one who needed to get her head checked.

Grumbling a few more curse words which were slowly becoming my daily vocabulary, I stumbled into my bed and finally collapsed on the soft mattress with a loud THUMP. There was something strange about my bed. Something eerily different. It smelled… how do I put this… GOOD. It was a hint of melons and vanilla, and something else that I couldn't quite hint.

Finally, realization swept over me. Goddamn. It smelled like her! And I kind of liked it… I buried my face into the pillow, though I felt like a complete creep once again. Sniffing a pillow? Seriously? What has the world come to? But I still couldn't get enough of it. It was the best thing I've smelled in a whole while, and I couldn't help but feel a little bit more of ease as my senses were filled with the smell; filled with her.

Just when I thought I was about to lose myself into bliss unconsciousness, the harsh ringing and damn annoying sound of the doorbell blared into my ears. I shot up in bed quickly, my eyes already wide open. I jumped out of bed and sadly unclenched the pillow out of my fingers. What if it was Tyler? What if he found out I just let her loose with all her memories still locked in place (though I doubt she could tell anyone anything now). Maybe he was here for her… Maybe he was here for me.

I honestly let the thought of running into my bedroom and hiding under the bed pass through my head. Maybe if I waited there for a couple of hours, heck even a couple of days, they'd go away. That'd probably work… Right?

But as if answering my question, the doorbell kept ringing and ringing as the person outside didn't seem to have a hint of patience inside of him/her. Soon the doorbell turned into heavy knocking, and then vice versa, over and over again until my mind was about to burst open and strangle them. I threw open the door. "WHAT?"

My mouth snapped shut as I saw the gray eyed girl staring at me with wide eyes and her hand up in a mid- knock. For some reason, the moment I saw her, all anger subsided a form of relief took it's place. I didn't need to ask her why she was here. I could tell from this look in her eyes that she didn't really want to talk about it. Her hair, her clothes, everything was soaked. I didn't even know it was raining. I peeked outside and saw the sun was still out.

I opened my mouth to ask, but she gave me a warning look that just shut me up again. I walked to the side and let her walk in. We didn't say anything to each other as she slowly made her way into my room, dripping water everywhere on the floor. I knew I should have been pissed since cleaning was probably one of the things I hated to do the most (Taking one look at my apartment would justify that), and not to mention this girl comes back with no explanation at all. But no. Do I give a damn? Nope. Not even close. Instead, I find myself opening my mouth and saying, "There are towels and some clothes in the cabinets to the right. I don't wear them that much anymore, so I guess you can change into them if you want."

Miraculously, her lips twisted into a half- smile that made her face light up even 5x times more than it already was. You never really understand how a person looks until you see them smile. And let me tell you that when this girl smiled right here, I felt like the room looked just a little bit brighter. I couldn't even tell what else was around me or the fact that my room was basically now a pool from all the dripping water. All I could see were the small straight white line of teeth that barely escaped the borders of her thin pink lips. Even her eyes smiled with her, I realized in awe.

Just as she was about to walk inside the room to change, she peeked her soaked head back outside to look at me. "And you were wrong."

What the hell was this girl talking about? Maybe I should bring her to the hospital...

"About what?"

"Gregg from down the street did have room in his cardboard box."

I raised an eyebrow kind of amused. The guy from down the street had been living in my alley for about 4 years now. He has this huge cardboard box which he spends all his time in. It had been a box for a 62 inch flat screen TV, and the minute it was thrown into the dumpster, the guy's face lit up like it was damn Christmas. He made a big fuss of bringing his stuff (which were basically a ripped up wool blanket and a radio he had rummaged up from the dumpster) and transferring it all to his new home. Though he never had a dime in his life, the poor guy could never go out without a huge damn big rotten toothed smile slapped right across his face. He was kind of scrambled in the mind, but hey, he was pretty damn interesting when you talked to him. He was the kind of person who knew so many random facts, that by the time you walk away, you feel like you've learned more than out of a history class. Not that I talk to homeless people a lot. It just kind of happens.

"He asked me to join him," she shuddered slightly. I had to bite back a huge laugh as I watched her face grow from disgusted to horrified.

"Oh. Is that right? What else did he say?"

"He said something about wanting to do the nasty with me. What does that even mean?"

This time, I couldn't help but break into a hard and loud laugh. I would have fallen on the floor if it weren't for her glaring and completely oblivious eyes watching me.

"What's so funny? What did it mean?"

Goddamn .This girl must have been born and raised in a freaking church. I just kept my mouth shut and shrugged as I held back another wave of laughter. "I'll tell you one day," I smirked.

For a second, she got that look in her face again, like she was just going to argue with me once again. Another fact I've noticed about her. This girl HAD to get her way, or things would get ugly. Not to mention, she was probably one of the most stubborn people I've met, and I've only technically know her for a few minutes (not counting the hours I had spent stalki… I mean, supervising her in her sleep.)

But luckily, God found a reason to spare me as her face relaxed and she slipped into my room to dry up. The thought of a girl as attractive as that one dressing up in my room, MY OWN BEDROOM WHERE I SLEEP, flooded my mind with some not so appropriate thoughts once again. Let's just say my mother wouldn't be so proud if she saw what was going on in my head, not to mention I'd probably get smacked in the face if she even got a glimpse. All I could imagine were those long legs, and those lean hips, and—

"Oh, and Nick," she peeped her head out once again from the door. I snapped around quickly, my face burning with embarrassment. Thank god thoughts were meant for the privacy of our own minds. I was pretty sure I wouldn't be living and breathing right now if they weren't. Let's just say I have a very 'creative imagination'. I can't help it. I am a guy after all. What else did we think about? Well, things that were important.

"Yeah?" I squeaked out a little too quickly. Good going, Nick. Good going.

"I just wanted to say thank you. For what you're doing for me. Not a lot of people would do this."

I tried to act completely casual, pretending like my heart wasn't slamming inside of my chest, though it was. All I managed to do was simply nod. I was never this nervous around girls. In high school, the ways of females had been the one class I actually paid attention to and EXCELLED in. Yes. My parents were very proud. (Note the sarcasm, ladies and gentlemen.) I was always completely comfortable with them. I always knew what I was going to say, what I was going to do. I've never encountered anything even close to this when I couldn't even bother to open my mouth to say a word, let alone move my body. This girl was messing with my mind.

"Um, no problem… What should I call you before you figure out your name? I'm not really comfortable calling you GIRL or YOU or IT, you know?"

"True. What about Rebecca? I've always wanted to be a Rebecca," she smirked.

I shook my head. "NO."

Her face fell instantly. "Why not?"

See. I would go into detail about my grudge with the name Rebecca, but then that would just take about more than half this story. Let's just say that she was a girl who I probably should never have hooked up with. She was also a girl who could never let go of a damn grudge. Some of her recent works in high school: thrashing my car, breaking and entering into my locker, putting shaving cream in my shampoo, and more unmentionables that I rather not remember right now. I heard she even stayed in this damn town so she could think of other ways to torment me. Yay.

"Let's just name you Sally."

"Sally? … And you find Rebecca a horrible name. Wow."

"Hey! I once had a pet fish named Sally. Don't judge."

"So I remind you of your pet fish."

"No, but it's not that bad a name. You don't have to be so damn pushy about it."

"Pushy? It's MY name. Or at least temporary name. Don't you think I should have some, or um, ALL say in this?"

Here we go again. "We're doing it again."

Her face was flushed, but she looked like she was calming down. "Doing what?"

"Fighting for no reason," I sighed.

She bit her think pink lips before nodding. "Sorry. I get kind of carried away."

"I've noticed." I snapped my mouth quickly. Sometimes my own big mouth can piss me off. But surprisingly, the girl only smiled a bit more.

"You can call me Sally, if you really want. I don't mind."

"No. It's fine. You can be Rebecca if you really want. I might cringe everytime I say it, but just ignore that. It's a reflex."

For a moment, she looked like she was about to laugh, and I felt something light up in my chest as I watched this girl's face light up like a freaking lamp. She looked like she was literally glowing.

"What about we just mix it up. Sallybecca?"

I laughed out loud the minute the name rolled off her tongue. Sallybecca? Did she really want to carry that name around? _Hey, guys. This is Sallybecca._ It sounds like some endangered marine species, or some spread you put on toast. Goddamn. I wasn't going to put this girl in misery. "What about we just avoid names for now. Good enough?"

She sighed as if relieved herself. "I'm good with that."

For a few minutes, we just stood there looking at each other up and down. I took that moment to take in every detail about her. From her long waves of auburn hair, the color of leaves in the fall, that fell down to the base of her back, to her lean and curvy hips, and finally to her long long long long legs. Yes. I had to repeat the word _long _4 times. I hope you now vaguely understand the image of the girl standing in front of me. Why I say vaguely? Because there most probably won't ever be a word let alone description that could truly describe this girl. She truly was indescribable.

"I guess I should probably change now. After that, I'll probably just take a nap for the rest of the day," she yawned like she was truly tired. Damn. Like this girl didn't get enough sleep. "Goodnight, Nick Grey," she smiled slowly, and I felt that jolt of energy pass through me again as her gray eyes met mine.

"Goodnight, person," I smiled back. She let out a small laugh before slipping back into the room. Even as I watched the door close shut, that small memory of her laugh seemed to echo and echo over and over again in my mind. It sounded like a thousand little bells ringing at once. I felt that yearning in the pit of my stomach again as I lingered in front of the door for just a few more seconds, hoping that she would come out and laugh again... I shook my head quickly, and took a step back before taking another and another. Before I knew it, I had escaped out of the front door and was already making my way down the street. But no matter how far I went, no matter how far away I was from her, the fresh memory of that laugh and smile was still right there.

I was losing it. Nick Grey was definitely losing it.


	4. Day Three

_**A/N: I just wanted a quick Author's note to say THANK YOU! Only 2 official new chapters written so far and I already basically have 30 reviews. **_

_**I also wanted to say that I might change the rating to M in this story, because I find myself cursing a lot in this story. Hahaa. What do you think? **_

_**And finally, I'm starting school on Monday and chapters might take longer to write. Especially since these are whole days I'm writing. They'll be pretty long. But I promise to do my best to get them up. Thanks for reading. :)**_

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Hangovers are the small glimpses of hell. That is your lesson of the day, boys and girls. Cursing to myself for drinking so freaking much, I covered myself in the soft blanket as I shivered from the cold morning air.

Wait a damn minute.

I didn't have blankets on the couch, let along soft ones with no stains, rips, stuck gum, and you get the idea. Heck, Gregg's little wool blanket is probably better looking than mine. I mean, I always knew that I should get some new ones, but with the small enough pay checks I had, I rather spend it on other more useful items than blankets. For example, food. (AKA burgers and fries from The Burger Palace down the street). And when I meet certain lady friends', I usually make sure we go to their place instead of mine. I mean honestly, one step into this hell hole and you'd be passed out at the doorstep.

I'm not kidding… It happened once.

Okay, okay. Maybe I am exaggerating, but let me tell you, that girl did sway a little bit side to side. And she did leave pretty quickly. But hey, she wasn't that pretty anyways. Psh.

Suddenly, that's when it hit me. The sweet aroma of melons and vanilla filling my senses from every corner I turned to. I sat up quickly and found myself sitting in my bedroom, on MY bed. Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god, oh god. I mentally slapped myself. How drunk could I have been last night? I didn't do anything with her, right? I couldn't remember anything, and I'm pretty sure if I had done anything with a girl like that I would remember. Goddamn. I would definitely remember.

But then again, I was pretty wasted last night. I only meant to have one drink to get her off my mind, but even after that one glass her, EVERYTHING about her was still there. And let me tell you that I'm not exactly the kind of person who has a clean and cut memory. I'm the kind of person who forgets what show I was watching, the minute it goes to commercial!

I remember stumbling down the sidewalk, waving to Gregg as he sat in his box with his little radio, dropping my keys then picking them up then dropping my keys then picking them up, and then the door opening. That was all I could remember. The rest was pretty much all blurs or completely gone from my memory.

Slowly and nervously, I turned around to the other side of the bed that would pretty much answer my question on what really happened last night.

No one was there.

It was still made and perfectly in touch as if no one has been there in the first place. I couldn't help but feel a disappointment build in the pit of my stomach… Wait. Why was I disappointed? That I didn't get laid by a complete stranger? Let me repeat this again, A COMPLETE STRANGER? I stared at the empty space again and realized how quiet the whole house sounded. Maybe this was all a dream. Maybe she really didn't exist and I was just being the complete idiot I was and dreamt it all it up! Yeah. Yeah. That would make sense, right?

Suddenly the door creaked open and there she was in all of her glory, smiling at me. My heart froze in my chest as I stared at her in awe. She was a morning person. Definitely. And a noon person, and a night person and everything in between, I concluded.

"Hey, sleepyhead. I made breakfast."

My jaw dropped. "There's actual food in this place?"

"God, no. I found some money in my back pockets and went shopping"

I raised an eyebrow, but kept my questions in. "Okay. I'll be out in a minute. Let me just change."

She exited the door quickly, and I finally sighed in relaxation. Why was I always so tense and goddamn nervous around her? It was getting frustrating. How was I going to stay under the same roof with this woman if I couldn't even breathe when she was in the same room as me?

Sighing, I jumped out of bed and put on a clean white V- neck t- shirt and a pair of faded jeans. Heck, I even combed my hair just a little. It wasn't for her. Maybe I just wanted to look presentable some days… Okay. Maybe it was for her, but still. Finally, after double checking myself in the mirror, I went outside to make my big entrance.

"There you are. You change as slow as a girl. You couldn't pick out an outfit?" she smirked as she took a sip of coffee at the kitchen counter.

"Only for you," I sneered sarcastically as I took the seat across from her. I looked around the apartment that didn't seem to be mine at all. "What did you do?"

She seemed confused by my question as she raised this cute little eyebrow and just took another sip from her coffee. I motioned towards the complete spotless room. GODDAMN. YOU COULD SEE THE FLOOR! THE ACTUAL FLOOR! No shirts, or papers, or pizza boxes, or magazines, or even pastrami sandwiches! (Don't ask. It was a crazy night.) My carpet is brown, I noted. There's a huge coffee stain on the left corner of the living room. Man. I was learning more about this apartment today than the last 5 years of living in it. "Am I still even IN MY apartment?"

"I got kind of carried away. I hate anything messy," she explained casually, as if all she had done was pick up a piece of paper from the floor.

"Wow," I finally sighed after examining the whole spotless room. "You're weird."

Crap. Smooth, Nick. Smooth.

"Excuse me?" she raised an eyebrow.

I stuttered like a complete moron and tried my best to come up with a reply. "Not like that, not like that. I mean, most girls wouldn't have done what you did."

Her face relaxed and her lips twisted into a small smirk. "Well, I'm not like most girls, Nick."

I chuckled under my breath. "I've noticed."

A ghostly hint of a smile played on her lips, but she just took another sip of coffee to hide it. I took the coffee that was laid out in front of me and took my own small sips. I was never a huge fan of coffee, but at the same time, I didn't want to be rude and push it away. And the way she made it actually tasted… GOOD. This is coming from the kid who literally walked out of the room whenever his parents drank coffee. The scent was too much for me.

"So do you mind telling me what happened last night? Why I woke up in the bed YOU were supposed to be sleeping in?"

She coughed awkwardly, and I knew this story was either going to be embarrassing to her, me, or both. "Well, I woke up from grumbling and sounds at the front door. And I couldn't find you anywhere, so I went and opened the door myself. And um, you were kind of just there. Talking to yourself, or maybe you were screaming at your keys. I um," she rubbed the back of her neck. "I can't remember the details."

Crap. Screaming at my keys? I really was wasted. "Um, go on."

"Well, I dragged you inside because you basically passed out once I opened the door, and you said some things… But um, I thought you would be more comfortable in your own bed, and I really didn't mind sleeping on the couch anyways."

"What were some of these 'things' I said exactly?" I asked, gulping. Maybe I didn't want to know.

She shrugged, but I could see an amused smile growing. "Just things."

"Things," I repeated curiously.

"Yes. Things."

I took another sip of my coffee and sighed. "Where did the blankets come from?" I asked. Cause I was pretty sure those weren't mine. I owned nothing silky, soft, or um, decent for a matter of fact.

"Like I said. I did a little shopping. I noticed you didn't have much, and you seemed cold when I found you. I went out early in the morning and picked up a few other items, while I went grocery shopping." She sounded so smart and efficient, I felt kind of intimidated. A girl intimidating ME? Yup. I was lost. So so lost.

"How much money did you find in your back pocket?" I asked in shock, remembering this was all her money, forgetting the fact that Liam and Tyler had taken her actual wallet.

She placed a huge wad of cash on the table. There had to be hundreds if not thousands of dollars on my kitchen counter right now. I think the biggest amount of money that's been on this thing was the $5 my Aunt Lola sends me every other freaking birthday.

"Holy crap. Either you robbed a bank or you're filthy rich."

"I'm scared to know."

I chuckled to myself as I tried imagining the petite girl in front of me robbing a bank. She didn't seem to find humor in this as her face had a hint of worry. "I doubt you robbed a bank."

"Then where did I get all this money from?" she asked, obviously not calmer one bit.

"Have you ever thought of the fact that maybe you're rich as hell?" I explained, though I was curious on why she was carrying THAT much cash just in her back pocket. She bit her lip and just stayed silent as if she wasn't sure what to think anymore.

"Man. Who knew I had a kitchen," I exclaimed, wanting to change the subject.

The girl finally laughed, and my heart did this little jump in my chest. Great. Now my organs can do gymnastics. Just great. "Trust me," she smiled. "I had trouble finding it too." There was an awkward silence as we just watched each other, then looked at our empty mugs, then back at each other. No matter how many times I looked at her, it would never get old. I'd find something new about her every time.

"I remembered my name," she finally confessed. "Miley. Miley Stewart. That's my name. I grew up in New York with my family. My birthday is November 23rd. I'm somewhere around my 20's, because I remember small bits of high school including graduating."

"Wow."

"Is that all you're going to say? Wow?"

I sat there frozen, taking in all this information. Miley. Her name was Miley. I liked it. But at the same time, I felt disappointment and fear rise up from my chest. She was remembering everything too fast. Before I knew it, she would be gone and it would be like I never existed to her at all… WAIT. Why did I care? I didn't have feelings for her, right? ... Right?

"Sorry. I'm in shock."

"About which part?"

"Everything," I sighed. "You remembered a lot."

She toyed with the ends of her hair again. I noted it was something she always did when she was thinking. "It's not that I can remember actual moments or memories, but I just have the vague idea. Like I know I graduated high school, but I can't remember anything that happened in between. Who my friends were, what classes I took, etc."

"So you're still going to stay?"

She shrugged her shoulders. "If it's okay with you. I want to wait until I remember why I came here. I don't have any memory so far on even knowing this town or ever going here before now. I just want a little more clarity, you know?"

"Not that I've gone through major memory loss, but yeah, I understand."

She laughed softly and stood up. "I wanted to go around town today. Can you take me?"

Crap. I had work today, and Ol' John was going to be pissed after my little 'family thing' act from yesterday. "I don't know… I kind of have some place to be."

But then she gave me these huge puppy dog face, where her bottom lip quivered and those big beautiful gray eyes stared at me with this huge intense air she probably didn't know she was even doing. I found myself opening my mouth and saying, "I guess I can call in sick. It wasn't that important anyway."

Great. She had me eating out of the palm of her hand.

Her smile grew before she jumped into my arms and gave me a quick hug. Yeah. A hug, the whole arm wrapped around my neck, body pressed against body kind of hug right in the middle of the living room. "I'm going to go change," she said quickly after pulling away.

"Okay… Miley," I let the name roll off my tongue and it felt so natural, like I was born to say it forever (as cheesy as that sounds).

"Yeah… Nick," she mimicked my voice, before running back into my bedroom. Was it just me who felt that rush of energy again? I swear this girl has some machine in her.

I mean, I've hugged girls before. Trust me, I've done way more than that… yet here I was hyperventilating in my own living room because some girl who I've known for less than 24 hours gives me a quick hug that lasted, hm, I don't know… 2 seconds.

The place on the base of my neck where her head rested was still burning as if she were still standing right here, hugging me. I rubbed the spot of skin until the burn stopped, but I still couldn't get the 2 second moment out of my mind. As I waited for her, I realized that she would most probably have to wear her soaked clothes again. I thought about telling her there were some smaller shirts in the walk- in closet, but before I could the doorbell rang.

"I'm coming!" I screamed out frustrated. Whoever was at the door had almost less patience than Miley. The ringing wouldn't stop, and the building migraine from my already hell- filled hangover was building again. Whoever the hell had the guts to piss me off right now really deserved a good ass- kicking.

I opened the door, ready to scream at my visitor, but I was attacked first. What the—

"NICK!" Joe screamed as he gave me a damn huge hug that I couldn't breathe. He basically tackled me onto the floor.

"Goddamn, Joe! What the hell do you think you're doing? AND what are you doing here?"

"Reunion, moron," he smirked. Ah. I see he never let go of my famous nickname. Joe Locke was my best friend since pretty much 2nd grade. He was everything a girl wanted; good- lucking, polite, intelligent, an amazing kisser. (How I know that, don't ask. It's not what you think…) And let me just say that he's a pretty damn fun guy to be with. It didn't take a fortune teller to know that this guy was going places from high school. And he was.

"How's the big apple?" I smirked as I slapped him on the back heartily. I missed the guy, though I had too much pride to admit it. Even though it did get annoying time to time when he called to update me on his big shot life (though he didn't do it on purpose), I was proud of him.

"Pretty damn big," Joe laughed. "Well compared to Samson. Who ever knew, huh?"

"True that," I grinned back. "So how's the writing going? Make a best- selling novel yet?"

Joe smirked as he threw himself on the couch. "It's in the works, my friend. It's in the work."

You see, ever since forever, Joe was a writer. He was born and raised and polished to be the next big American novelist. From kindergarten, he was the one sitting in the middle of the mat telling the stories instead of the teacher. He had the biggest imagination and the best skills to write it down on paper. By the time we were in junior high and high school, teachers wouldn't shut up about him. _Joe wrote this, Joe wrote that._ So because the guy couldn't put a pen down for a second, half of our English experiences were listening to Joe's stories and essays. I mean, it wasn't too bad since the kid had some real raw talent, but that didn't mean I wanted to listen to them over and over again. Trust me. I was the one guy he always went to, to make sure it was perfect… Right now, from what I understand, all he does is stay at home and write his little stories. Boy, what I would do to live that life… (without the writing part of course. Let's just say F was one of my English teacher's favorite letters for me that year.)

"And how's Demi?" I asked.

"Ask her yourself," he grinned as he motioned towards the raven- haired beauty walking into the room with that huge ear to ear smile. If anyone knew how to flash a real grin, it was this girl right here. Like Joe, I'd known her forever. Joe, Demi, and I, including our friend Taylor had been friends since pretty much forever. The only difference was that Joe and Demi soon became a little more than just friends, if you know what I mean. Everyone knew that Joe and Demi were supposed to be together all through high school. It was a known fact. And now, they lived the whole happily ever after life package; a real life fairy tale unraveling in front of me.

"Hey!" I smiled as she ran over to squeeze me into a huge hug. Demi and I were always close friends. I wasn't really the most 'loose' person in real life, and she basically changed that. She could make me laugh with pretty much everything. "How's your big lawyer life? Busted someone's ass already?" I joked.

"Nick, nick," she teased, shaking her head. "Busting 'asses' is not what I do. I save them. And no, not yet. I'm still a temp."

"You'll get there soon enough. Defending those rich snobs.." I snorted. Demi punched me in the shoulder.

"Hey! Those rich snobs are my soon to be clients. They're not that bad. They're actually pretty decent."

"Yeah," I smirked. "Decent, with $10,000,000 in their pockets and egos bigger than their wallets."

Joe stepped up and wrapped an arm around his girlfriend's waist. "Ah. There's the old Nick we know. Always so quick to judge. We were scared we walked into a stranger's house. What is this place? When did you get so tidy and clean?"

"I double that question," Demi smirked in awe.

I instantly remembered Miley, but before I could do anything, I watched as Joe and Demi's eyes widened consecutively. It didn't take much to figure out they discovered my little visitor. "Um… Nick. Care to explain?"

I turned around, flushed and nervous as I glanced over at the Miley who was probably still dressed in her drenched clothing, but no. It wasn't that Miley either… I mean, yes. It was Miley but not, you know? … Actually, heck. I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. And the reason was what was standing here in front of me. She was dressed in this sun- yellow summer dress that hugged onto her curves in just the right places. It reached right above her knees but still accented her long tanned legs. Not to mention that she tied her hair back to show off more of those gray eyes that I already couldn't get enough of. I was speechless. I was damn speechless.

"Um… um… umm…" I think you have an idea on how my part of the conversation went.

"Nick?" Demi asked, glancing between me and Miley, Miley and me, and so on and so on. "Are you okay?"

"Um,… um… " I couldn't stop freaking staring. I honestly don't even think slapping me square in the face would break my attention. Miley stood there confused and giving me a raised eyebrow at our unexpected visitors. Finally, Joe stepped up and waved to Miley.

"Um, hi. I'm Joe, an old friend of Nick's," Joe explained awkwardly, not knowing how truly awkward this whole circumstance was.

"I'm Miley," she answered back. "Miley Stewart."

"Sorry for the intrusion. Nick didn't say he had guests over already."

"Maybe it was because you never told me you guys were stopping by," I mumbled under my breath. Joe ignored it. Demi socked me in the arm. Ah. Like old times.

"Don't worry. You weren't mentioned either," she smiled politely.

Finally, Demi stepped up. "I'm Demi. I'm also a friend of Nick's from way back… How do you know our Nick here?" she smirked. Goddamn. I could read it off her face as if she had written it on black sharpie all over her damn forehead.

"God, Demi. Nothing like that. We're just friends," I answered a little too quickly.

"Yeah," Miley mumbled. "Just friends."

This was so damn awkward. I pondered the thought of jumping out of my front window. It probably wouldn't hurt too much. Probably much less torturous that this. Mhm.. Definitely.

"So are you from town?" Joe asked, being the curious guy he is.

She shook her head slowly.

"So where are you from?"

She seemed a little hesitant in answering. "New York."

Demi and Joe's faces lit up. "No way. We live in New York. What part are you from?"

"I'm not sure," she stuttered, and I watched as Demi and Joe's faces twisted in confusion.

"HEY!" I clapped my hands together, trying to break the awkward tension. "Listen. Me and Miley here were just going to go look around town for a bit, so I'm sorry, but I guess I'll see you guys later—"

"Great idea!" Demi clapped. Oh yes. She was just as giddy as I remember. "We can go together. We just got here, and I haven't been around town in forever. Isn't that great idea, Joe?"

Joe smiled down at her. "Yeah. Great idea."

Great idea, my ass, I thought to myself. I tried giving them the best GET OUT OF MY BUISNESS glare, but they were too busy talking to Miley to receive the mental call. I mean, I loved them and all, but there were just some things I needed to do on my own without their damn interference.

"Why don't you guys go downstairs. Miley and I will meet up with you guys later," I explained tensely. They shared a private look with each other before bringing their smirking faces out of my apartment. Goddamn. They probably thought we were just going to go at it the minute they walked out of the door…

Oh god. Inappropriate thoughts… inappropriate thoughts.

I blinked them back again. Sometimes, it was really frustrating to be a guy. I turned back to Miley who was still standing there looking flustered. "Sorry about that," I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly. "They can be kind of… a little forward."

"No. They were lovely."

"Lovely?" I asked. "Have you happened to remember where you went to school because you're obviously didn't go here."

"What do you mean?" she asked completely oblivious.

"I bet you've never said a bad word in your life," I challenged, and she looked a little taken back with my statement. Her face got all flushed and maybe even a little pissed off.

"I too can say a bad word."

"Then say one," I leaned forward until my face were inches before hers. I didn't notice how close we were standing until I saw her eyes trail down to my lips. Oh god. Was she going to kiss me? Oh god. Was I hoping she would? Oh god. Oh god… oh god.

She leaned forward just a bit, her eyes focused straight on mine, our lips now parallel to each other. I could feel her hot breathe steam onto my neck. She pouted her lips for a second, giving me the most intense stare I've ever looked into as she moved closer, and closer, and closer…

"Fuck," she whispered as her lips hovered right over mine. Her mouth twisted into a huge accomplished smile, but none of us pulled back. Instead, I felt my own smile grow as I leaned forward knowing what I had to do.

"HURRY UP GUYS. WHAT'S TAKING SO-" Joe screamed out as he walked right into the middle of the living room. Miley and I shuffled away from each other quickly, and I could tell my face was burning up like those damn tomato faces I always hated on girls. What was happening to me? "Never mind. I think I know what was taking so long," Joe smirked before revealing a wide toothy grin.

"Shut up, Joe! Go wait outside," I demanded, completely embarrassed. Miley didn't seem fazed at all as she stood there just staring away from us. Crap. I hope this didn't make anything more awkward than it already was.

"Fine, fine. You guys can go back to what you were doing," Joe laughed as gave me another wink. He closed the door, and I already knew he was running that big damn mouth of his to Demi. Ah. This little trip together would be just as Miley would say, lovely.

I stared back at her the moment Joe exited the room, and she looked sort of lost. I stepped forward, and placed a soft hand on her shoulder. She turned towards me surprised as if forgetting that I was right here with her. "You okay?"

She paused for a moment, thinking to herself before finally nodding. "I'm guessing we should go?" she mumbled nervously.

Crap. It was awkward. Remind me to kick good ol' Joseph in a ditch along the way.

"Hey, listen," I grabbed her arm again as she walked past me to get through the door. She looked at me, her eyes filled with curiosity. "I don't think we should tell Joe and Demi, or anybody about your memory dilemma. They can make things seem way bigger than it is."

"And losing all your memory is so not a big dilemma," she teased sarcastically.

"You know what I mean. Let's just say you're a friend from out of town, okay?"

She sighed a huge shuddering exhale as if she had been holding her breath for hours and nodded. I gave her a reassuring smile, trying my best to make her feel better. Because for some damn reason, I don't know if it was because of the almost- kiss or Joe and Demi being here or who knows what, there was something different in her usual optimistic eyes. Right now as she stared back at me, there was a hint of worry and hesitancy.

Yes. You heard it here first, ladies and gentlemen. One of the most stubborn and head- strong people I've ever met just looked hesitant.

"We don't have to go if you don't want to."

She looked up at me, and I could tell she was forcing herself to smile. "I want to."

"No you don't," I corrected simply.

She sneered. "And what? I know you for a day, and you suddenly know what I want and what I don't?"

Oh god. Not this again. "It's not that. It's just—"

She sighed as if I were the most frustrating creature on the universe. The thing with her was that sometimes I couldn't tell whether I was going to strangle her or whether I wanted to um, do other stuff with her…

"Let's just go," she said before leaving. And right now, I think I was kind of tipping over to the strangle side.

* * *

"So tell us again, how you know our little idiot over here?" Joe joked around as he tried making conversation with Miley. Demi sat next to him as she eyed me and Miley with a satisfied smirk. For the most part, Miley seemed to be doing fine. She still had that distant look to her eyes, but she managed to seem like she was enjoying herself enough.

"We're just friends, and I decided to pay him a visit," she answered quickly, flashing me a look before looking back at Joe. Thank god, this girl knows how to keep her mouth shut.

Unlike some other people…

"So Miley, are you and Nick like an item?" Demi squealed, finally letting the outburst that was probably building in her little giddy mind burst out. How she's a lawyer, or soon to be lawyer, I still don't understand. This girl sitting next to me had always been the girly, completely idiotic one in the group. Yeah, she might have toned it down a bit since high school, but she wasn't exactly the black and white suit- wearing, loud stuffy annoying voices kind of serious. To me, she still looked like the little and occasionally annoying- as- hell bundle of sunshine I had grown up.

Miley seemed taken aback by the question. Goddamn. She didn't have to make it seem like being with me was like torture. The idea had to please her in some way, right? I mean, girls always found me attractive. HELL, guys even came up to me and told me how dreamy I was. (An extremely awkward story I may one day tell you.) So you think this would mean that this girl sitting to my right would be no different from all those other girls… (and guys.). But no. Miley stares at Demi as if she had just asked her if she was hooking up with a damn sandwich.

"No, no. We're just friends. Like I said."

"Are you sure? Cause just friends usually doesn't mean just friends," Demi raised an amused eyebrow. Joe was choking back laughter next to her. I wanted to smack them. They always did tease me with girls, no matter how many I hook up with. They always found a way to torment me. (Not that they mean to, but still.)

Miley looked utterly confused. "I don't understand. We're really just friends. Nothing more."

"OUCH. REJECTION!" Joe hooted teasingly. Demi high- fived him. Miley looked lost. And I, being the good guy I was, merely mentally imagined myself pushing my two best friends in a blender with Godzilla.

"Hey! So how are you guys? How's New York?" I quickly changed the subject, grinding my teeth in the process.

It took them awhile to answer, since both were still dying of laughter. Mhm. This was all so damn hilarious. For sure.

"It's great, Nick. You should come visit some time!" Demi finally gasped out between laughs. "It's a beautiful city… as long as you don't get mugged. Right, Miley?"

She nodded slowly. "Yeah. But the Upper East Side usually isn't that bad."

Demi leaned forward. "Oh. So you're from the Upper East Side."

Miley nodded confidently. What was going on? Had she remembered that too? I gave her a questioning look, but she wouldn't look at my direction. Instead, she was biting her lip as if concentrating on something.

"I swear to god you look so familiar," Demi raised an eyebrow, leaning forward. I felt myself beginning to sweat like a damn pig. Please tell me they don't know each other. Please God. If I had to go on my knees right and freaking pray, I would have. If Demi knew Miley, then she would most likely remind her of her real life, then she would wonder how she got here, and then she'll remember the gang fight and oh god. No no no no. Tyler was going to eat me for breakfast, and being stuck in those disgusting rotten teeth was the last thing on my To Do list. Please and thank you.

"I'm sorry to say YOU don't," Miley replied. I snorted back a laugh. Ah. There was the head-strong and sarcastic Miley coming around.

Demi didn't look fazed. "I just swear I've seen your picture somewhere. What about you Joe?"

We turned towards him just as he pushed a whole spoonful of chocolate ice- cream in his mouth. If anyone ever asked me who the biggest pig I ever knew was (aside from me, of course), Joe Locke would surely be my first answer. There was ice- cream all over his clothes, his face, one spot even being on his forehead. Only God knows how he got it on there. He obviously hadn't been listening to any of what Demi had said.

Demi tsk'd under her breath as she searched through her bag for a napkin.

"What?" Joe asked staring at us. "Is there something on my face?"

"You can say that," I laughed. "Or you can say that you look like you fell face- first into a toilet."

"Nick!" Demi gave me a warning look as she cleaned her boyfriend up. Miley, on the other hand was finally dying of laughter. Finally, I sighed with a smile. That laugh again. It was so full and healthy that I couldn't help but smirk with accomplishment.

"Why don't we go?" I finally stood up after we finished our ice- creams. Joe and Demi shrugged, and Miley looked grateful as she pushed away the ice- cream she barely even touched. I raised an eyebrow as she passed me.

"I'm a lactose intolerant," she explained in a soft whisper.

"Did some more of your memory come back?" I asked. Her memory was coming back quicker than I expected. Her expression morphed and for a second, I thought she was going to tell me she remembered everything, and that she was going to throw me in jail and my whole life would be over right there (which technically, it already kind of was, but hey. I rather not have a life on my couch than not have a life behind bars). But instead she grabs her stomach and shakes her head.

"No. But I just remembered now."

"Oh crap, oh crap," I panicked. Okay. I panic easily. Don't judge me.

"Can you just get me home?" she sighed, clutching onto her stomach.

"Oh yeah. But they were the ones who brought us here. They'll have to drive us back."

She bit her lip. "Can we just walk. It didn't seem too far away."

Yeah. Like 2 miles. But I could see that she really didn't want to be with Joe and Demi right now. I know that it wasn't because she didn't like them, because honestly, even despite they're goddamn annoying moments, they were pretty funny and nice. From what I could tell, she just wanted to be alone, or at least alone with me. For some reason, I felt something flutter in the pit of my stomach. Holy crap. Did I honestly just have butterflies in my stomach? DID GUYS EVEN DO THAT?

After calming down those stupid things in my stomach, that were definitely not butterflies, (Psh. Real men don't have butterflies in their stomach. Psh...) I apologized to Joe and Demi and promised to make plans with them later. Apparently one of my other close friends were also coming into town in a few days. Then it would really be party. All 3 of them teasing me about Miley. Yay.

Once Miley and I were finally alone, it didn't surprise me that she said nothing for half the walk. She didn't even make any sign that she was having any stomach cramps or whatever you get when you're a lactose intolerant. We just walked in damn silence, while those stupid butterf—I mean, um cramps were going crazy in my stomach.

"I lied," she finally broke the silence. "I'm not a lactose intolerant. But I do hate ice cream."

I felt myself smile slightly. "Why do you hate ice cream?"

She smiled too as if she had never been asked this question before. "Because it's just cold ice with flavoring. I mean, look at strawberry ice- cream. You might as well eat the actual fruit. It tastes amazing and it's better for you."

"You sound like my mom," I accidentally slipped out. It was the truth though. Ice- cream was one of my obsessions as a child. It's amazing I didn't turn out to be some huge obese monster when I grew up. I had ice- cream for every meal, and if I didn't… Let's just say, I was a kid who knew how to throw a tantrum. And my mom would go on these crazy night- long rants on the importance of balancing fruits and vegetables into my diet, and other health stuff like that. I guess she was scared that I would turn out into a huge obese monster too.

"I still haven't heard about your parents. Do they live in town?" she asked politely.

I shrugged. "Not really."

"Do you ever visit them?"

"Not really."

"Do you guys still talk?"

"Not really."

Finally, thank god, she got the message that I really didn't want to talk about this. Hallelujah! SHE LISTENS!

After another few blocks of silence, she finally broke the awkward tension. "I remember this town. I used to come here with my family on summers. There's a lake here, isn't there?"

I listened in awe. "Yeah. There is. It's on the other side of town though."

She nodded as if she already knew. "My parents had a lake house, and we'd just stay there and swim and relax until work and school called us back into the city."

A small hint of a smile entered her features, and I knew this place meant a lot to her. Why? I doubt I would ever know, but I was glad that we were finally getting some answers. "So you think that's why you came here?"

Her smile wavered for a second. "I don't know. Shouldn't my parents be with me too? You found me alone, right?"

I bit my tongue and nodded. No way in hell I was going to tell her the real story once we were finally making a break- through. "Maybe you were supposed to meet up with them?"

She shrugged again. "Maybe. They might even be there right now," her face lit up suddenly. I felt something stir in my stomach, but it definitely wasn't those damn butterflies. If she met up with her parents at that lake house, she would be gone. All of this would be over like that… And I had barely just gotten to know her…

Yet the moment she asked whether I could take her down there tomorrow, I found myself nodding and smiling back. Because no matter how much I denied what was going on between us or if there was even a '_thing'_ going on between us. I knew one sole thing from all these damn complications and confusion.

And that was that I would do absolutely anything for her.


	5. Day Four

"GET OUT OF MY GARAGE BOY!" Old John yelled as I entered the damn place with my hopes high that the guy was in a good mood. "You think you can just skip whole days like that? Get out before I kick your ass out!" Guess not.

"C'mon, John. I had some special guests, and I didn't want to be a bad host, you know?"

The old guy snorted as if what I said amused him. "Special guests, my butt. And you couldn't have called in because?"

"Cause I was busy! Like I said, entertaining my guests."

"Do I look stupid, boy?"

"Um…"

Suddenly, my savior came walking through the garage with her bangs swept up to the top of her head, once again revealing those damn beautiful eyes. She had a huge smile on her face as she almost skipped inside the room. She was wearing this new baby blue dress that accented her eyes perfectly. She probably bought it using all that money from her back- pocket. Another fact I learned from her in the past 4 days; she was not afraid to spend.

She walked straight to me and handed me a paper bag."Hi," I mumbled awkwardly.

"Hi," she smiled back. "I just wanted to give you lunch. I made it this morning and you forgot to take it."

Oh, so that paper bag at the edge of the kitchen counter wasn't a trash bag after all. I passed it, pretending I hadn't seen it because I knew she was going to just make me throw it away for her. And I was not going to do chores in my house. Never did, never will.

"Oh, um, thank you."

She smiled at me once more before turning around to meet Old John's curious gaze. "Hi. I'm Miley Stewart. I'm a friend of Nick's."

Old John looked a little unsure. "Are you his special visitor?"

"I'm not sure if I'm that special, but yes I am his visitor."

John snorted. "So the kid wasn't lying for the first time in his life."

Miley smirked. "Surprisingly, no. Are you the boss he was talking about yesterday?"

"The kid actually remembered me?"

"Yeah. He wanted to go to work, but I kind of forced him to show me around town. Sorry about that. I hope you didn't have too much trouble here by yourself."

"Nah. The kid doesn't even do anything here anyway."

"Hey!" I gave him a warning look. Getting degraded in front of Miley was one thing, but getting degraded by a 80 year old man like John was a whole another thing. "I'm standing right here."

"Oh, we know, boy. Don't worry. We know," John winked at Miley, and to my horror, Miley laughed. Was I missing out on something? Was this all some sick joke that they were playing on me? "I'm John, by the way," he finally introduced himself. Miley shook his old wrinkly hand. Yes. She actually touched him. Something that I've been too scared to do for the past 5 years I've known him. Who knows what would happen if I shook his hand. Maybe it'd even fall off from the crisp age he's in. Ew… Bad image.

"Nice to meet you, John," she smiled politely. Suddenly her eyes grew wide as her gaze shot right past his shoulder. "Please tell me I'm dreaming or is that a Shelby GT- 350 Mustang sitting right there?" she gasped out as she ran towards the new creation that John's been working on for weeks now. I mean, I knew my things about cars, but what she said right now was pure junk in my head. Shelby what?

"Yes it is. You know about cars?"

Miley nodded as she examined the hood and engine. "My dad collected them. All kinds, and since they never got a son, I was the only one left to listen."

I watched in complete shock as Miley and John got into this huge fancy conversation about engines and who the hell knows what. I tried to give her a questioning look if she had just remembered more about her past, but she just gave me a Don'tWorryI'llTellYouLater smile before turning back to John. "Nick! Get Miley here a drink from the cooler, won't you? She's probably thirsty as hell!"

"Oh no. It's fine—" Miley tried to say as she flashed me a look of apology.

"It's my treat. A lady like yourself shouldn't be out here in this heat without a drink!"

Well, if I wanted to keep my job, I might as well get it. I walked over to the cooler that was pretty much hidden all the way on the other side of the garage. It was pretty much Ol' John's secret stash, but in this case it was a bunch of drinks and junk food that his doctors always warn him to not eat. Something about inducing heart problems or something like that. Well, being the stubborn guy he is, he completely ignored those doctors and ate like a 15 year old, if not worse.

By the time, I got back with a cold can of coke, John and Miley looked like they were about to pop a vein from all that laughing. John already started to look a little queasy as he clutched onto his stomach for support. Even when I walked up to them, they were still pretty much rolling on the floor from laughter. "Um. Here you go," I handed Miley the can.

She smiled as she took it. "Thank you." Finally, she turned towards John whose face was flushed red from all that damn laughter. He looked like he was about ready to faint on the ground… He had something different on his face today, even underneath all the saggy skin and oil stained face, it was sitting there clear and open… Goddamn. John actually liked her! He never liked people or anything in that matter of fact. He either barely got along with them or despised them forever. (I'm still not sure what side I'm on.) But yet here he goes smiling and laughing (YES. I SAID IT. SMILING AND LAUGHING the minute Miley walks into the room.) It looked so weird to see Ol' John actually happy for once. Who knew the wonders and miracles Miley Stewart could do…

"I have to go. Sorry if I was intruding, but it was nice to meet you," Miley finally sighed as she calmed down from all the laughter.

John shook her hand. "It was nice to meet you too, Miley."

She smiled at him once more before looking at me. "I'll see you later then. The lake, right?"

"Right," I swallowed, though it was the one thing I was trying to hold off to the farthest I could. With one last wave, Miley Stewart turned and walked back as if all she had done was drop off my lunch rather than perform the biggest miracle this town had ever seen.

I glanced curiously at Old John, but he was already back under his car, working as if none of this had happened at all. "Um, John," I called out hesitantly. He rolled out from under the car.

"Yes, boy. You can have your job back, but no more funny business you hear? Or you'll really get a good ass- kicking."

"Yes, sir," I smirked as I took my regular place on the couch watching time go ticking by. I opened up the small paper bag that Miley had made for me, and was surprised to see that it was enough to make a damn meal. As well as the fact that it was still warm. Let me just tell you, if I had a dollar for every day I had gone without a warm home- cooked meal, then I'd be the damn richest guy on this planet. And when I did get one, it was always either on a special occasion or someone in the family died. This time, all I had to do was lend her a place to stay, and I got one. Smiling, I took out a fresh salad, a container of warm pasta, and finally a small spoon and a container with a note.

_I thought you might like this as a better substitute from that artificial ice. __ - Miley_

I opened it curiously and found she had place yogurt inside. Next thing I know, I find myself laughing out with no control. Old John even scooted out from under the car to make sure I hadn't gone insane on him.

"You okay, boy?"

I showed him my container while in the middle of laughs.

"YOGURT? You're dying of laughter because of some damn yogurt?" Now he thought I was truly insane, but I didn't care. I ate my warm lunch happily, and I made a note to thank Miley as soon as I got to her.

Soon enough, after a few phone calls, a few passed tools, it was time to go. And for the first damn time in my whole career, I actually wished I could have stayed longer. In a few minutes, when I drive Miley Stewart to that lake, it might be the last time I ever see her.

Why I cared so much, I wasn't so damn sure, but I knew something was growing between us. Whether I liked it or not, I was still deciding, but something was growing, and I wanted more time to figure it out.

"I got to go, John," I finally sighed as I grabbed my jacket.

"Wait," he called out as he slid out from underneath the car with a huge blow torch in his hands. It still amazes me how he manages to do all of this without downright murdering himself.

"Yeah?"

"I just wanted to say… don't lose this one."

"What the hell are you talking about, John? Have you taken your meds this morning?"

John snorted, but his face was still more serious than I've ever seen it. "I know you, boy. I've heard stories about you going through girls like a starving rhino in a bake shop."

"I'm lost," I finally mumbled. Starving rhino in a WHAT?

"Just listen. There's something special about this one, and I don't want you to be your usual stupid self and let her go."

"Are you talking about Miley? There's nothing going on between us," I tried to explain, though that almost kiss from yesterday was playing through my mind.

"Just remember what I said."

"Don't be my stupid- self. I get it."

He sighed that same sigh Miley used to give me whenever I was being the most frustrating thing on Earth, but was I honestly going to take girl advice from JOHN? The last girl he was probably with was centuries ago, and I'm pretty sure poodle- skirt wearing, 'dandy' girls from his days were nothing like the ones now. I think I could handle my own relationships by myself.

I waved at him goodbye, still completely confused at why he cared so much about me and Miley, but by the next block, my mind already wandered to pondering on what color a smurf would turn if it was choking… Hm…

"NICK!" a loud gasp erupted as a tall, skinny blonde ran towards me full force. She was at least a head taller than me now, and I honestly had to crane my neck up to look at her.

"God, Taylor. What do they feed you down there in LA? Steroids?"

She giggled and slapped me as if I were the damn most hilarious person in the world."I'm here for the reunion!"

"So is everyone else. Demi and Joe just got here."

"Oh cool! Didn't Demi and Joe move to New York!" she asked perkily.

"Yessir. The Big Apple."

She gave me a confused look. "Um, no. They told me moved to New York."

I rolled my eyes. There's the blonde Taylor I know. "Yeah, but the city is called the big apple."

"Why? Are there really big apples? Like real apples? Cause in LA they kept mentioning apples everywhere but then all they showed me were these computer thingies… -"

I just patted her arm and shook my head. Thank god I loved her too much as a friend. "Where are you staying, Taylor?"

"At my parent's house, of course!"

"Your mom or dad's?"

She gave me a funny look. "What do you mean?"

"Taylor," I snapped my fingers in front of her face. "Your parents got a divorce a few years ago, remember?"

"So? Does that mean they live in two different houses?"

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure," I raised an eyebrow. How this girl got all the way to LA to be a fashion designer still beats me, but hey, she had some real talent. I was just happy that it was all working out for her.

"Well, I guess this is a problem then," she bit her lip in deep thought. "Because I sorta said yes to both."

I chuckled. "I hope it works out, but I have to go, Taylor. It was nice seeing you. Make sure to call Demi and Joe later so we can all hang out."

"Okay! I'll see you later then!"

She walked away in heels that where higher than god knows what. Taylor was always described as the most beautiful everywhere she went, in class, in school, in the whole damn town. But I guess the price for that was part of her common sense, you know? We still loved her no matter what though.

I reached my apartment and opened it to find Miley vacuuming around the apartment. I threw my keys on the table and sighed as I walked up to her, grabbed the vacuum and threw it in the closet. "HEY!" she screamed as she watched me shut the door with a lock.

"You need to stop cleaning. You're not a maid, you're a guest."

She pouted her lips in the cutest way. "But I like to clean. It calms my nerves."

"You're nervous?"

She wiped her hands on her jeans and gulped as she nodded. "Well, yeah. What if my parents really are there? What if I don't like them? What if they don't like me?"

"Don't be silly. They have to love you. They're your parents."

"But technically, I'm not me anymore, you know? I feel different. I don't even know who 'me' is."

"I think they'll love you."

Her face lit up just a bit as she smiled at me. Something inside of me flipped. "Really?"

I smiled back shyly. "Yeah. Really."

She grabbed my hand and intertwined our fingers together as she squeezed mine to comfort herself. I held it just as tightly. Did she feel the same thing I was feeling when our hands touched? Did she feel that rush again?

She did seem a little dazed she finally let go and stood up, but she didn't say anything or show anymore signs of feeling anything more than just a quick holding of hands. A quick and FRIENDLY holding of hands, I reminded myself. Just friendly.

Yet why was I still shaking from that small moment that last pretty much 5 seconds? Why was I wishing that I could just reach out and grab her hand again? And why did I wish we weren't going to that goddamn lake house even if she wanted to? Oh yeah. Cause I was selfish and delusional. That's why. Nothing was going on between us. Nothing.

"Are you sure you're ready to go?" I asked hesitantly.

She paused for a moment as if thinking through her decision. She always did that, I noted. She was never an impulsive kind of person. She was the kind of girl who would take a pause, sit down, and go over the choices with the whole pro and con list plan. In other words, she was pretty much a little bit of a control- freak. And for some damn reason, I kind of liked it.

"Yeah," she finally nodded. "It's better to find out now, you know? I want answers."

"Then let's go. My car's parked in the garage."

She nodded and followed me down to the musky old garage that always seemed to smell like feet no matter how many bottles of Lysol I waste trying to change that. Trust me. I've tried.

Finally, we stopped in front of my baby. Probably the one thing I've actually loved in my whole life. I pulled off the gray sheet that protected it from dust to reveal my 1968 Classic Ford Mustang Cobra. It's probably one of the sole things I have that isn't a worthless piece of trash. My dad had always been a car fanatic, and I've been in love with the thought of owning one of these since the day I could walk. It might have taken a few years and job –filled summers, but I got it.

"Wow," Miley sighed as she examined the paint job. It still amazed me that a girl so feminine and fragile looking from the outside like her could be so interested in cars like this. "Just wow. I think I'm in love."

"Just wait til you see the inside," I smirked as I opened the door for her. She gave me a curious smile before slipping inside. I had to bite back a laugh as she squealed in delight. I went the other way around and got into the driver's seat. Miley's jaw was basically resting on the floor as she examined everything from the leather seats to the stereo to pretty much just the damn rugs.

"Please let me marry your car."

"If you invite me to the wedding," I joked back. She laughed softly, and I sat there waiting for just a few minutes to listen to her sweet laugh before turning the engine on.

She closed her eyes and just listened to the purr of the engine. "I will seriously propose to your car right now."

"It's nice, huh? I've been working on it since pretty much high school."

"Nice doesn't even justify it," she explained with a huge grin slapped across her face. "But people probably compliment it all the time. I should probably shut up."

I chuckled under my breath and shook my head as I drove. "Nah. Most of the girls I let inside this car don't even know what type of car this is. All they know is that it's a car and it's a thing that will get them home."

"Oh," Miley mumbled awkwardly. "You drive girls home a lot?"

I nearly choked on my own spit. "WHAT? Um.. I mean, no. Not like that. I just.. um.. you know."

Miley giggled and put her hand on my arm to calm me down. "I'm kidding, Nick. And I wasn't thinking of it that way."

I wiggled a teasing eyebrow. "What way?"

She blushed this sweet shade of crimson. Yes, I know I said I hated it when girls blushed, but with her it actually looked attractive. Instead of looking like a damn tomato, it seemed as if roses were barely blossoming on her cheeks. I felt an urge to just reach out and touch it… But that would be creepy. Psh… So so creepy. .. Then why was I thinking about it? Aw hell. I was a creep.

We drove until we reached a spot where it had become all shrubbery and trees. Miley had stayed silent for the rest of the drive. Every few minutes, I would take a quick glance at her, but every single time she was just sitting there, staring out the window in concentration. I was too nervous to make a comment, let alone I wouldn't even know where the hell to start. Here was a girl who knew almost nothing of who she was, and she might be meeting her freaking parents in a couple of minutes who not to mention, she also knows nothing about. It must have been hard. It was like being reborn all over again, and having to start from step one. As much as I wished I could go back to my nap- filled kindergarten days, I sympathized for her. Everything was probably so confusing.

"That's the lake, isn't it," Miley's voice broke me out of my thoughts. She was still staring out of the car window with that intense gaze.

"Yeah. Does it bring back any memories?" I asked as I parked the car.

She shook her head slowly. "No. It's familiar though, but at the same time, it's not. It's hard to explain."

I nodded slowly, glad to know that she wasn't going to explain and just confuse me even more. I walked over to her side quickly to open the door for her, but she was already half- way out of the car. She widened her eyes as she saw me reach for the door- handle the moment she pushed it open. "Oh sorry. Should I go back in and-"

"No. It's fine. You're already out—"

"Here. Let me close the door, and you can um, go."

"No. It's fine," I started, but she had shut the door and sat there waiting for me to open it. Awkwardly, I opened it with a raised eyebrow.

"Thank you," she smiled tensely as she finally stepped out.

"Was that really necessary?" I asked, slipping my keys in my back pocket.

She blushed and ran a hand through her honey red hair. "As weird as it sounds, yes. Not many guys do that in New York. I wanted to take advantage of it."

I gave her an odd look, because honestly it was. "Okay."

"You think I'm weird," she stated.

"To be completely honest here, yes… But hey, we all have a little weird in all of us." I held a finger to my lips as if trying to hold a secret. "And don't tell anyone, but I kinda like weird."

Miley blushed, and I mean REALLY blushed. Her smile grew all the way from ear to ear. (Goddamn. It wasn't just a big smile. It was almost DEMI SIZE.) She was giving me this look that I couldn't completely read, but I stared back probably looking as idiotically happy. No matter how stupid we looked like right now, both tomato smiling- faced morons, I was enjoying every minute of it.

"That's the lake house!" Miley screamed, breaking the moment as she pointed to a large white wood paneled house right at the edge of the lake. It was a pretty far walk, and I'm pretty sure my car couldn't fit on the narrow strip of dirt. She looked back at me, and I shrugged. It was going to be a hard walk, and I probably should have worn something better than flip flops, but hey. If she wanted me to go, I'd do it anytime. That didn't mean I had to be happy about it.

"Let's go," I grumbled as I trudged onto the mud- like ground. What did I do to deserve this?

"Um, Nick. Your feet are um—" She tried to explain, but I didn't have to look down. I could already feel the mud sticking to my toes.

"Don't say anything," I warned her as I kept on walking. It was disgusting, but I could live. For a few minutes, we walked along the path silently. She walked quietly next to me, biting her lip as if wanting to say something. "What is it?"

"What do you mean?" she turned towards me confused.

"I mean, you look like you're thinking about something."

She shrugged and crossed her hands in front of her. "I don't know. I was just wondering how I know nothing about you. Isn't it kind of dangerous? Staying in a complete stranger's house? I don't even know how old you are. For all you know you could be a 60 year old man with an aging disease who only lures young girls like myself in to kidnap."

I laughed and gave her a funny look. "You talk a lot, huh?"

Surprisingly, she didn't find it offensive as she laughed also. "I guess you can say that, or you can say that I'm just a curious person."

I met those deep gray eyes and felt that rush of energy fill my lungs as if I couldn't breathe. "Well, I can for sure tell you that I'm not a 60 year old man. More like 23."

"Noted," Miley smiled.

"But I do enjoy luring girls to kidnap."

For a second, I remembered her lack of humor and was about to take it back, but again Miley Stewart surprises me by laughing softly. "Noted," she repeats with a growing smile.

"Well, now that we've passed that, where should I start?"

"I don't know," she shrugged casually. "What about just growing up here. Elementary to High school. Anything worth talking about?"

"Not really to be honest. I was born here, raised here, will eventually grow old here, etc."

"You make it seem like a bad thing."

I looked at her, but she was staring out at the lake. "Well, it's not really a good thing. You wouldn't understand. You're from the big flashy city. You're not used to being trapped in a box like this."

That caught her attention as she snapped her head towards me, her eyes burning. "You don't know that." I was going to ask her what she meant by that, but she had already turned away as if she hadn't said anything at all. Goddamn. This girl was either A. bipolar B. A little insane. C. Just damn confusing.

"Well, I just want to see something. Change something, you know? I feel like we were all brought into this world to make our imprints and I don't think working at Old John's Car Repairs for the rest of my life is going to do that."

"There's more than one kind of imprint you can leave in life. Some are bigger than others, but they're all still imprint. You know what I'm saying?"

Honestly, I had no idea in hell what she was saying, but I just nodded anyway. I didn't want to get into another long life- talk about my non- existent one. "Well, that's pretty much it. I graduated high school. Skipped the whole college scene, and got my own apartment and worked with John for the past 5 years."

"What about family? Where are they?"

"They're gone…"

She turned towards me again, her eyes wide with sympathy. "Like? ..."

I shrugged and held my breath. Family was a subject I wanted to avoid at all costs. "Just gone."

I felt her hand on my arm, and it sent shivers down my spine. I looked at her and she just gave me this sad smile that made my whole body freeze for just a second. For that one second, all I wanted to do was tell her everything, everything that I had been too scared to tell anyone else…

"We're here," Miley sighed, finally breaking the stare as we stepped onto the front porch of her family's lake house. Her hand was still on my arm as we walked towards the door together. I could tell how nervous she was, and I squeezed her hand in response. She was the first one to step forward and knock on the door.

No one answered.

Honestly, I wasn't surprised. The house looked like it hadn't been used or taken care of in decades. The paint was peeling away, and with every step we took on the porch, the floorboards would creak so much that I was afraid that we were going to fall right through the floor. Not to mention, shrubbery and grass was growing wild all around, and basically covered the whole house. I was starting to question whether this was really the house Miley thought she remembered.

"This has to be it," she whispered as she knocked again. "I remember this porch. It's not as .. um, untidy as I remember, but I remember that porch swing. I have vague memories of my parents sitting there, sipping their lemonades while they watched me swim."

I glanced at the porch swing, which now looked like just a flying piece of drift wood. "Um… Miley," I raised an eyebrow as I watched her start to push the decaying door open. The ear- splitting creak that broke through the air the moment she pushed the door open broke my goddamn brain. She flashed me a look of apology before entering. She motioned for me to follow, but I found myself standing still, unmoving.

"C'mon!" she whispered secretly, as if were breaking into the freaking house. (Which we kinda were, but still. I rather not think that we were breaking a federal crime right now. Please and thank you.)

"I can't!"

"Why?"

"Because… just because." Okay. To be completely honest, as much as this will lower my masculinity points by pretty much half, I'm scared of haunted houses. When I was 10, my friend's brother made us watch this damn movie where zombies exploded their brains all over the damn carpets, and ghosts popped out of every closet you opened. Not even Casper kind of ghosts. These are like brain- eating, full on crap- in- your- pants kind of scary. And right now, the abandoned look of this house was not helping the situation.

"That's not even an answer," she grumbled, obviously annoyed at my own stubbornness. Oh, the irony.

"I just can't. I'm… Okay. I'm just going to say it. Don't judge… I'm scared. OKAY! THERE I SAID IT!"

Miley sighed, and surprisingly she didn't laugh or even chuckle. Maybe she wasn't actually going to tease me about it. "Are you done now? I promise I'll hold your hand if we meet any ghosts."

Never mind about that teasing thing.

"Shut up," I mumbled as I took a step forward and another.

"C'mon, Nick. I can't do this alone. Please," she pleaded, her face turning completely serious. She was doing that damn puppy dog face again with those damn eyes, and I knew I couldn't last much longer.

"Fine! But if I don't make it out alive, you owe me!"

She crossed her fingers in front of her heart and smiled. "I promise."

Hesitantly, I walked over to her slowly. Almost there…. Almost there… Suddenly my foot fell into a hole as the decayed wood of the porch gave in and almost swallowed me with it. "AHHHHHZOMBIEEAHHHHH!" I yelled as I jumped and ran into Miley's arms… Yeah. I was so losing much more than half of my masculinity points.

"Are you okay?"

"Yeah. That was just really close." It took me a moment to realize that Miley was laughing. Like REALLY laughing. Goddamn. Tears were probably pouring down her face too. I pushed myself away and wiped my hands on my jeans. "Don't say ANYTHING to anyone, or I will come after you."

She put her hand to her lips and made the lock and key motion before throwing it behind her shoulder. "I saw nothing." But of course, she was still giggling like an idiot. A cute idiot.

"Let's just go look around," I mumbled, trying to act like I didn't care, but honestly, I was scared out of my mind. The inside was almost empty except for a few pieces of covered furniture here and there. I walked a little closer to Miley just in case some zombie would pop out of a corner and eat my brains out. "I don't think anyone's here, Miley."

She ignored me as she kept on walking. I grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "I don't think we should be here."

She gave me this damn look and I knew I had no chance on winning this fight. "Please Nick. Just a little while longer."

"Okay, okay, but if I fall into the floor somewhere, someone is getting sued."

She smiled and squeezed my arm as a sign of thanks before continuing down the house. I kept close to her as possible. I was pretty much shaking out of my pants every time the floor creaked or I walked into a freaking spider web. This place was a net of disaster.

"Let's go upstairs!" Miley finally decided after realizing that there really was nothing down here to see.

"Those stairs are going to fall from under our feet. Are you sure that's a good idea?"

She smirked as she already took the first three steps. "Fine. Stay here by yourself then.. ALONE."

Grumbling some more curse words, I followed after her. Finally, when I reached the solid ground of the second floor, I exhaled the breath I had been holding in. This wasn't going to be that bad, I concluded. Yeah. It's going to be okay, I told myself. It's all going to be… "MILEYY! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?"

"Um," she stared at me like I was insane, which I probably was at the moment. "Opening a door."

"What if something comes out?" I asked, being the complete moron I am. Damn that friend's brother who cursed me for life.

She laughed. "I doubt zombies are going to—OH MY GOD! HELP!" she screamed as she disappeared into the room. Panicking, I ran in after her. I TOLD HER! I TOLD HER NOT TO OPEN IT!

But instead, I found her giggling like a damn 10 year old school girl when I got inside. "I can't believe you actually fell for that. And you say, I'm weird."

"That wasn't funny. What if you actually got hurt?" I flushed embarrassed.

"By what? A zombie?" she teased, and she just punched me on the shoulder teasingly. "Sorry, Nick. It's just too fun."

"Yeah. Ecstatic," I mumbled sarcastically as I rubbed the spot in my arm where she punched.

We looked around the room, and I knew from the way Miley's eyes lit up that this looked familiar to her. It was a pretty large room with small fading flowers painted all over the walls. There was probably more furniture left in this room than the rest of the house.

Finally, Miley stopped in front of a large bulky object hidden underneath by a large wool covering. I watched as she stepped towards it in awe. In a quick swift movement, she pulled the covering and revealed a grand black piano. It was dusty and looked untouched for years, but it still looked like the ones you saw in movies.

I watched frozen as Miley stepped forward and took a seat at the small black piano bench before starting to play.

When I was little, my mom used to sing to me whenever we were together. Any song she could think of, or even songs she could make- up on the spot; she would just sing, and my day could go from kill- me- horrible to actually pretty damn amazing. That's how much I loved the sound of her voice. It was just full and sweet and clear.

But standing here now, listening to Miley Stewart playing the piano, her fingers moving over the dusty keys, I felt like nothing could ever compare anymore. The music drifted around the room so sweetly that I couldn't help but smile. By the time, her finger played the final base note and the melody died out, she stood up with a large grin on her face.

I took that moment to step forward and place a hand on her arm. "I didn't know you played."

She turned towards me, her smile just growing even more. "I didn't either."

She just stood there beaming, and I knew that there was something about the piano that meant a lot to her. I know we wouldn't know what or how right now, but it was. It took all my will to look away from her and look out the glass paned window. It was almost dark, and we still had to walk back down the narrow path. "I think we should go now."

She looked at the piano one more time before taking a step back, closer to me. She took my hand into hers, and suddenly, despite the spider webs and the creaky floor boards, I wasn't that afraid anymore.


	6. Day Five

John's been in a better mood these days, thank god. He's actually been pretty decent. Laughed at a few jokes I cracked one or two times today. HECK, it might even be three! Whoever gave him Happy pills this morning, needs to boost up the dosage, because so far, he hasn't nagged about me sitting around all day.

"Pass me that wrench, boy," he mumbled as he worked on the engine. He had this huge oil stain on the side of his face again, but I was too lazy to comment. Instead, I settled into my seat and opened the paper bag that Miley once again packed me for today. No matter how early I woke up, she would be ready as if she had woken up 5 damn hours before. The whole house was clean, my lunch was made, and she just sat there as if she had all the time in the world. She hasn't talked much about the situation at her parent's lake house yesterday, but I know she can't stop thinking about it.

She's also been humming that song she played on the piano everywhere she goes. It's like she can't get it out of her head. I mean, the song is great and all, but by the 36th time you have to hear it in a day, it can get damn hell annoying. I've just been too nice a guy to tell her to shut up.

"Thank Miley for me won't you?" John yelled from under the car.

"For what?" I asked. What the hell was he talking about?

"For the cookies she baked me," he said simply. I think my jaw literally hit the floor as I stumbled off the damn couch.

"Miley made you cookies? SINCE WHEN?"

"Since this morning, boy. Now pass me that wire!"

Goddamn. Miley Stewart was baking cookies for John? What was this? An episode of Happy Days?

I trudged back to my spot in the couch, curious on why Miley was being so freaking nice to Old John. Firstly, she barely knew him. Secondly, she met him for basically 5 minutes. And finally, the big one; he was probably centuries older than her. Grumbling to myself, I opened my own lunch and found a container of margarita pizza with a Caesar salad and the regular cup of yogurt. _Hope you enjoy your lunch! Stay away from all zombies as possible! Xoxo –Miley _

I had been getting small notes like this with every lunch for the past few days… Then how come my heart was damn racing in my chest just from the fact that Miley wrote hugs and kisses? Oh yeah. Cause I'm a dork. She would never want to hug or kiss me… Psh. And I… Well, she does have soft looking lips, and I love the way she smells like vanilla and—

Crap. What the hell was I saying? I can't be falling for her. She doesn't even know who the hell she freaking is. Do I even know who she is? For all I can tell, she might be some psycho serial killer on the run, looking for poor shmucks like myself to get close too, then BAMM. You're throat is cut open and you're dead with all your money is some crazily beautiful girl's pocket as she looks for her next victim… Not that I have that much money for her to steal…

I let the thought of Miley murdering me with a butcher knife take over the place in my mind where I had been thinking of Miley's lips. It was better that way. So much better… Or at least easier.

Sooner or later, 5: 00 showed up and I was finally able to get out of that damn garage. I said a quick goodbye to John, but he was too busy fixing something under the hood of the car to even see that I was leaving. Eh. He'll figure it out later. I made my way home in the matter of minutes, and by the time I picked up my keys to open the door, voices surprised me. They were pretty damn loud too. What was Miley doing in there? Throwing a freaking party?

I fumbled with the doorknob which was lucking unlocked, as I walked into a room with Joe, Demi, Taylor, Selena, and Miley all sitting around the couch, talking as if they've all been damn friends since they were in their wombs. None of them even took any notice to me as I walked in.

"Um… hi?" I mumbled as I threw my keys at the table. No one heard, or at least no one cared enough to pretend they heard. I coughed louder and stomped my feet on the rug a little louder than usual. "HIIIIII."

FINALLY, all their heads snapped to me. Joe gave a small head nod. "Hey, Nick." Then he just turned back around and went right on talking to Miley. Demi smiled at me, and Taylor didn't even look at all. At least Selena actually stood up to greet me. Goddamn. What does a guy need to be respected around here?

"Hey, Nick. Long time no see," Selena smiled that simple smile of hers as she leaned in to hug me. She smelled like apples and cinnamon, just like always. She never did change. Not one bit.

"Hey, Sel. How's it going? What are you up to?"

You see, Selena Logan is probably the one person who actually did something with her life while staying near home. Well, technically, she didn't stay in this hellhole of a town, but she did stay in New Jersey. After high school, she went to college, graduated, and started a large chain of pet stores all across the east coast. From what I heard, she was rolling in so much cash that she was giving them away to random people. The funny thing is, from the earliest time I had known Selena, she HATED pets. Couldn't stand to smell, play, or even be near one.

"Nothing. Just life, you know?" Selena smiled at me.

"Okay," I rocked back in my heels, because that answer didn't seem like an answer to me. "So did you just get here? For the reunion in a week or so right?"

She nodded and crossed her arms over her chest. "Yeah. Just wanted to come in early since I heard the rest of the gang was going to be here too."

"It's just a huge grand party, isn't it," I threw my arms in frustration. If there was any worse time for all my friends to come back into town and torment me, it was now. It just had to be the time I was harboring a memory- loss woman who I think I was falling for. Perfect timing. Just perfect.

"Ah," Selena smirked. "There's the good ol' Nick Grey, I know."

"Good. Mhmm. Sure."

She laughed softly. "And there's the good old SARCASTIC Nick Grey I know. Ah. I've missed you," Selena smiled again as she leaned in for another quick hug. Selena was always the one person who I've always felt completely comfortable with. No awkwardness, or tensions, just complete ease. I never had to even think with her. It just came naturally.

I turned around, finally to meet back up the rest of the group, and for a second I thought Miley's eyes had been watching me and Selena the whole time, but by the time I got a good look, it was as if nothing had happened at all. She was laughing at something Demi had said, while Joe was pretty much doing who knows what with her elbows. And Taylor… Well, Taylor was just laughing there and clapping. You know how she is…

"We should probably get back," I nodded my head towards the completely idiotic group as they let out short outbursts of stupid giggles and snorts every damn five seconds. Selena nodded, but she pulled me back with that curious look on her face.

"Who is she? Please don't tell me she's your latest 'trophy'."

I shook my head, disgusted. "God, no. Nothing like that. We're not even together in … um… that way. She's just a friend visiting."

Selena looked unsure, as if not believing me, but she managed to just shrug it off and walk back to the group. I took the seat next to Miley to make sure to keep a close eye on her. She didn't even turn to me. I nudged her once, and her eyes flickered over to me for just a second.

"Are you okay? Sorry for my friends just showing up. They're kind of rude sometimes."

She snorted. Crap. She even looked beautiful when she snorted. "They're not being rude. Though I'm not sure YOU should be pointing fingers."

Wait… Hold up. WHAT THE HELL? She was pissed at um, how do I put this… ME? I just came home. What could I have done in the last 4 minutes I walked inside? "Um. What did I do?"

She sighed, giving me an exasperated look before turning back to Joe and Demi. FINE. Be like that then. Goddamn. This girl was harder to figure out that those stupid colored squares you turn to match each side… The name always seems to slip my mind, but I was always obsessed with those… Well, for like a day. Then I gave up and learned the wonders of sports. Imagine where and how I would be right now if I had spent all my time inside with that stupid cube instead of being out on the field…

Well, okay. Nothing can probably worse that my life right now, but still! For all you know, I could be some nerd geek who spends all his time battling magical elves and wizards online and doing god knows what. (No offense to my nerd readers. Tip: Get some fresh air, get a girlfriend, and leave your lightsabers at home.)

"So I invited Miley to play some laser tag with us! What about it, Nick? You coming?" Joe stood up, brushing himself off. Being the Siamese- like twins they are, Demi stood up at the same millisecond Joe did.

"Laser- tagging? We haven't done that since junior year."

Joe slapped me in the back of my head painfully. "Exactly." How I managed to keep this guy as a best friend, still beats me. "So are you going?"

"You know… I'm tired and I have some other plans—"

The whole group burst out into deep laughter. Wow. Demi was even laughing tears out as she clutched onto her stomach. Joe was pretty much having a laughing spasm on the floor, Taylor was giggling like a 6 year old, and even Selena was taking part of the whole scheme. Yes. THE SELENA who was ALWAYS on my side, was biting her lip to keep from laughing. What the hell was up with these people?

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Nick," Demi wiped her tears of laughter with her finger. "But seriously. Let's go."

"What's so damn hilarious of me having plans?" I demanded.

Demi let out a burst of giggles before slapping her hand over her mouth. "Please stop talking, Nick. My stomach is about to burst. You are just too hilarious. When did you get so funny?" She slapped me on the shoulder.

I raised an eyebrow, but by then everyone was already filing out of the room hooting and screaming. Those are my friend for you.

Miley came out of my room with a jacket in her hands. Her eyes grew wide as she realized we were the only ones left in the room. For once, the winner of Most Stubborn couldn't meet my eyes. Awkward tension… "They're downstairs waiting," I explained quickly. As usual, I was my usual messy nervous self. Nothing new in that.

"Oh," Miley mumbled as she nodded and was about to take off. Luckily, my fast reflexes (Thank you, football) managed to catch her right before she exited. She gave me a curious look, but I knew I had to say it now before I lost the guts too.

"Um, Miley… Do you ever feel like, anything between us?"

"What do you mean?" she asked, looking utterly confused… Oh yeah. The winner of Most Oblivious was also standing in front of me. I made a quick reminder to myself before sighing.

"I mean that, when I'm with you… I feel…"

For a second, I thought a smile was growing on her face, but by the next second she was already biting her lip. I don't know whether it was to hide the smile or just because she was obviously nervous and didn't want to be here. "It's just that… I feel this energy—"

"GET DOWN HERE YOU LOVE BIRDS. YOU CAN GO AT IT WHEN WE GET HOME. HELL, YOU TWO CAN GO AT IT AT THE LASER TAG ARENA. JUST HURRY YOUR BUTTS UP."

"GET ME A SODA WHEN YOU GET DOWN, NICK!"

"Oh! Me too! I like soda when all the fizz fills your mouth and it's like you have a dance party on your tongue! Yay!" (I think you know who said the last one.)

Miley looked a little embarrassed as she shuffled from foot to foot. She tucked her hair behind her ear before looking me straight in the eye. "What were you saying, Nicholas?" (Oh yeah. She's grown a thing of calling me by my whole first name when she's asking something serious. I didn't mind, for the first time in my life.)

I had to force myself to breathe by just looking at her so closely. Dammit. I lost the courage. Remind me to throw Joe out a window later. "Never mind. It wasn't that important," I mumbled. Disappointment seemed to flicker in her eyes before she just nodded and ran down the door, leaving me alone in the living room. I cursed at myself for being such a damn wimp before grabbing my own jacket and following where Miley disappeared.

I found the whole group at the end of the staircase. Joe and Miley were talking about god knows what. Demi was explaining something about law to Taylor who looked like she was back in kindergarten learning to count from 1- 20 all over again. So that left me with Selena, who was now wrapped in this huge tan looking coat that made her look like a hot dog.

"Who knew the day would come when we would be the out casts, huh?" Selena smirked, as we eyed everyone else. It was true though. From all through high school, I was the most popular guy and Selena was the most popular girl. There wouldn't be a spare second when someone wouldn't want to catch our attentions or talk to us or suck up. And now, here we were, standing in the reject pile. "Miley sure is a popular one."

"Tell me about it. She even made Old John like her. You know, she bakes him cookies?"

"Bakes him cookies? Wow."

I crossed my arms in front of my chest as I just watched the rest of them. Okay. Well technically, I was watching Miley the whole time, but hey. Who needs to go into details.

Soon enough, despite Joe's extremely slow driving skills, we got there! The Lazer Imporium was pretty much this run- down old building that used to be a library. No one used to go to, so what does this town do? They tear the old dusty place up and build a laser tag arena on top. Now we know who to blame for our crappy education, huh?

So it's basically just a room with a bunch of random walls and a few glow in the dark stickers here and there, but we've somehow managed to find some fun in this dump since pretty much 6th grade when our parents let us out alone without parental supervision. A lot of people come around here, so I guess the city is actually proud at themselves for tearing down the damn library. And they find it so much cooler because they put a 'z' in laser. Oooo. Amazing. I know.

"This place hasn't changed a bit!" Joe exclaimed as he walked towards the bright neon colored building with his arm around Demi. Selena had gone over to Taylor, which left me with Miley. None of us said anything as we walked out of the car, or across the parking lot, or into the lobby to sign up, even when we were putting on our equipment.

"You need help with that?" I asked Miley. She was having trouble adjusting the strap to her height.

She shrugged it off being the stubborn little creature she is and continued doing nothing to adjust the strap. I smirked. Fine. If she didn't want my help, she didn't deserve it. I adjusted my own strap, and I knew Miley's eyes were watching me as I was in the process of pulling the strap down. A few moments later, she followed the same thing I did and finally got it to work. I smirked as I turned back to her. "You're welcome."

A hint of a smile played on her face, before she turned around to get her laser gun. Taylor, Demi, Selena, and Joe were in the back, already ready with all their equipment on. "Don't shoot me guys! I heard it's really painful!"

"Tay, this is laser tag. You don't even feel the lasers."

"Oh… Okay! Just don't make me bleed! I'm wearing white pants!"

"No, Tay! It's LASERS. Just lights and—"

Joe put a hand on Demi's shoulder and gave her a look. Demi nodded and just nodded to Taylor's answer as if she understood everything she was saying. Chuckling under my breath, I grabbed my own gun and joined the rest of the group. Miley was examining her gun as if looking for a bomb or something. I walked over to her and nudged her. "What are you doing?"

She shrugged me off and continued searching. "Just trying to figure out how the thing works."

"Easy." I helped her get the gun in position. I even put her finger to her trigger despite the damn butter- I mean cramps in my stomach from just touching her. "Now point and shoot." I pressed the trigger with our fingers still layered one over the other, and a beam of light shot out of the gun and onto Taylor's jean jacket.

I watched as the blonde's eyes grew into sizes I have never seen before. Next thing I know, she's on the floor crying her eyes out while grabbing onto her arm. "I'M SHOT! I'M SHOT!"

Demi kneeled next to her again, trying to help her up, but Taylor kept screaming at her arm. "My god, Taylor. It's a damn light. You're not hurt!"

Taylor stopped crying as if someone had just flipped a freaking switch from Hysterical to Back to Old good normal blonde Taylor. "Oh right."

"Sorry," Miley mumbled as she dropped the gun, almost as if she had just been caught red- handed committing a federal crime. Now THAT made me die of laughter. I was basically falling to the ground by the time our names were called over for our turn in the arena. Demi and Joe skipped over hand in hand, being the perfect lovey dovey couple they were. Selena looked a little amused by the whole show, Miley was Miley; being spaced out, but here at the same time. And Taylor skipped over as if nothing had happened at all.

You gotta love her, I chuckled to myself.

"Okay, guys. Make sure all your gear is on safely. The point of the game is obviously to hit the other person with the lasers, don't get hit, yada yada. Don't run, don't eat, don't drink, don't physically hurt other people, don't … aw what the hell. Who put gum in my hair?" a acne- hit kid who managed to be suckered into working here mumbled to himself. He pulled a huge wad of bubble gum out of his hair, but it just wouldn't let go. "Damn this job," he muttered under his breath. He looked up as if remembering we were still the room. "Um, Just get in there, and don't kill each other. Kay? Good.. Oh and pick your teams. You have five minutes before the doors slide open and your game begins." He ran out, his hands still trying to get the gum out of his hair. By the time the kid walked out of the room, the whole group broke into smirks.

"That kid reminded me of puny little Simon. Didn't he, Nick?" Joe laughed as he shot me a look.

"Who's Simon?" Miley asked, confused.

I shrugged cause I honestly barely remember that guy either. He was the valedictorian kid who I was sitting next to in graduation. I remember that. I remember how he was sweating all over the damn place. I also remember that the whole time while he waited to say his speech, he was picking at his stupid pimple. I guess it was his way to calm his nerves? Who knows."No one. Just this loser who became this huge millionare."

"Nope. Billionare," Selena corrected.

"BILLIONAIRE!" I asked, completely shocked. God. I was starting to regret taking my naps in Geometry and English… and U.S. History… and World History… and Biology… and—Well, you get the idea.

"Woowee. Don't we wish we were actually nice to the guy back in high school? I'd be rolling around in cash," Joe smirked. Suddenly, the opening of doors caught all our attentions as two metal doors slid open to reveal a dark room. The game was beginning.

"CRAP! We have to pick teams!"

"I call Joey!" Demi squealed quickly as she pulled him into the dark arena. Selena and Miley were the closest to each other, so they just shrugged and grabbed each other's arms before running inside, and that left me with Taylor.

"I guess we're a team, Taylor," I mumbled. They so did this in purpose. I mean, I loved her to death, but in a game like this, I wanted the best I could have. And Taylor wasn't exactly what I was looking for. Let me just take this time to say that I am probably going to be one of the most competitive people you will ever meet. It's in my blood, I guess. My great grandfather was an Olympic runner or something like that. Who knows. I was too lazy to figure out, but I can tell you that I will crush someone like a bug if it means winning. CRUSH. YOU. LIKE. A. BUG.

"Wait. Huh? What's going on?" she eyed me like I was a talking monkey.

"Never mind. Just go in there and shoot everyone, okay?" I mumbled as I pushed her into the pitch black room. There was just enough light from the glow and the dark stickers and the random neon lights everywhere for us to see where the walls and dead ends were. But it was still pretty dark. I was starting to worry about Taylor walking into some wall or getting lost or something.

I turned around to tell her to go and start looking for some people to shoot, but a loud dinging caught my attention. I snapped around to face an accomplished looking Taylor. "NO. YOU'RE NOT SUPPOSED TO SHOOT ME!"

Her eyes widened. "Oh right. Sorry, Nick. Sorry. I'll just um… go!"

I sighed and waved her away. "You go do that."

She ran off, her long legs sprinting away through this maze. Finally, I let myself into the game as I got my guard up and looked around for someone to hit. Every now and then I would see quick movements from the corner of my eye, but by the time I turned around to search for who it was, it seemed as if no one was there at all. Suddenly, my target vest vibrated. I had been hit.

I hid in a corner, to wait for my suit to gain back enough energy to recharge before standing up again. I scanned the room, looking for my attacker, but my vest just vibrated again. I was hit… AGAIN. What the hell?

I waited again, and again and again, but every time I would stand up the person would just shoot me again, and I would be stuck there paralyzed. By now I was getting pissed. By the 5th time, I stood up, keeping a close eyes on everything. I didn't care when my vest got hit. Instead, I followed the direction the light of the laser had come from. Finally, I stopped under this small bridge area that was pretty closed around enough to be the perfect hiding spot. I found Miley Stewart standing there, in all her gear, staring out from the corner. So she was the one shooting at me, I sighed, not at all surprised.

She hadn't seen me yet as I crept up to her from behind. Suddenly, just when she was about to turn around, I grabbed her around the waist and put my gun right on the huge target on her vest. "Here's my revenge."

She kicked and shoved, but she couldn't get out of my grasp that easily. "This has to be against the rules! CHEATER!"

I pulled her even closer and whispered next to her ear. "Nope. And who said there were rules?"

Her voice got softer and her struggle to escape became less aggressive. "You can't shoot me. You're still paralyzed."

I cursed to myself when I looked down. She was right. I still had 20 more seconds to recover without getting hit before I could do anything. "Then I'll have to keep you here for another 20 seconds," I smirked.

She laughed sarcastically. "Oh, isn't that fair."

I held her tighter, but I realized it wasn't because of the game anymore. "Why are you so mad at me?" I whispered close to her ear.

"I wasn't mad. I was just… moody," she corrected.

"About what?"

"About things."

"Things like what?"

"Just things."

"C'mon. Just tell me."

She smirked as she glanced back at me from the hold I had on her. "Now who asks all the questions?"

I chuckled softly. This girl was killing me. I leaned forward a little more, challenging her with my eyes, but she stared straight back at them with no fear at all. I didn't notice how close we were standing, or how my arms seemed to wrap around her waist perfectly, without any effort. The senses of vanilla and melon fogged up my mind, and I couldn't even think anymore.

5

4

3

2

1

My vest vibrated saying that my gun was recharged, but before I could do anything, Miley had twisted her arms up, bent over and pushed out of my grasp like a pro. Even though I was pissed that I didn't get my revenge, I was impressed. Next thing I know, she's jumped on top of me. I'm on the ground, belly first, and her gun is pressed onto my back.

"Ha. Never let your defenses down," she smirked as she pressed the gun into my back a little harder.

"You're not the only one with cool moves." Before she could even let out a Huh? I had flipped us over so that I was lying right on top of her instead; my gun pressed to her stomach. Her eyes widened in shock, before it settled in approval.

"Where did you learn that?" she smirked.

"Took wrestling for a few years. Wasn't really my thing, but hey. It sure helped now," I grinned at her. "What about you?"

"Karate since I was 4. Black belt."

"Crap," I mumbled to myself. I was lying over a black- belt, not to mention I got a D for wrestling that year. That explains a lot. "Did you just remember that?"

"Nah," she smirked. "I remembered the second day I met you. I just didn't feel like mentioning it. It's not really a thing you would say to impress guys."

I raised an eyebrow. "You were trying to impress me?"

Her face blushed like a damn tomato. A cute tomato. "What um.. no.."

It was then that I realized how close we were again, even closer than we were a few minutes ago. There was absolutely no space between us at all; so close that a leaf of paper wouldn't be able to pass through. I could feel her heart- beating next to mine so fast that it didn't take a freaking genius to know that she was just as nervous as me. My lips were now right in front of hers, and by the way her eyes looked, I knew that it was almost a look of approval. Before I knew what I was doing, I leaned forward and shut my eyes, waiting for the kiss I had been thinking about for the last five days.

Suddenly, the lights flashed open. Like WIDE OPEN. I pulled my head away the moment the bright lights blinded my vision. For a few minutes, all I could see were black blurs. Next thing I know, there's a huge round of footsteps and shouting.

By the time, I opened my eyes, I faced the wide eyes of Joe, Demi, Selena, Taylor, and every employee in the damn laser tag building. "What happened with the lights?" I blinked, still trying to clear my vision. "And what the hell are you guys all staring at?"

They just blinked and stared more.

What the—"Um, Nick," Miley mumbled from under me… from under me… OH CRAP. I WAS STILL LYING RIGHT ON TOP OF MILEY. I pushed myself up instantly and dusted myself off. My face was burning up like a damn stop sign. Miley stood up, not looking fazed at all. She pulled her shirt down, which only made everything seem worse, and I shuffled my curls to make sure I didn't have bits of dirt and dust stuck inside.

"What happed to the um, lights?" I asked, trying to change the subject.

The manager stepped up. He was this bald guy who had this sour face, no matter how happy he was. "What you guys were 'doing'… must have pulled a wire and messed up with the lights," he eyed us curiously as if we were doing something dirty.

Oh god.

"Sorry," Miley and I mumbled at the same time. I would have laughed if we weren't standing in front of half the town, who all thought we were just going at it on the floor. "So, I think I'm going to go."

The manager put his hands on his wide hips and nodded. "Yeah. I think so too, and bring your little friends with you. " He waved us away, and I walked out of the brightly lit room as quickly as my feet could take me. I didn't want to talk to Miley after THAT. Or anyone in that fact. Right, now, all I wanted was a damn nap and some time to clear my mind.

"Hey, buddy," Joe jogged up to me. I could tell from the smirk on his face that he wasn't here to console me.

"What do you want, Joe?"

He stuffed his hands in his jeans pockets. "When I said you guys can go at it at the arena, I didn't mean it literally," Joe chuckled, slapping me on the back. I shrugged him off.

"Shut up."

"Oh!" Joe's grin grew until it was the size of Montana. "So you guys really were—"

"NO!" I yelled, frustrated and downright exhausted. "There is nothing going on with Miley. She's NOTHING to me. I would never do anything like that with her. I don't even LIKE her. She's the biggest most stubborn hard- headed person I have ever met. All I want to do when I'm with her is pull my hair out!"

Joe's almond eyes widened before they focused down on his sneakers. It didn't take much to take the note and look back to see Miley with Demi, Selena, and Taylor walking just a few feet behind us. She was acting like she hadn't heard, but I was starting to know her too well. She heard every word. I wanted to tell her that I had been lying, and I wanted her to know the truth… But to be completely honest, I didn't know what the truth was right now. And my mind was too much of a stupid mess to know what I wanted.

"Just let me go. I'm walking home."

"Nick," Joe called out as I trudged onto the sidewalk, but he didn't run after me. "Don't be like this! Get in the car."

"No," I finally retorted, before I stuffed my hands in my pockets and walked home alone.

* * *

By the time, I got back, the apartment was so quiet that it felt like no one lived here at all. Curiously, I peeked into my bedroom, expecting to see Miley already fast asleep on my bed, but no one was there. The whole bed was made up; the blankets folded, the pillows in place. I walked in slowly, and picked up a folded piece of paper left on the bed. It only had a single world, but I felt as if I were reading millions.

_Sorry._

Next to it was a wad of cash that was probably worth hundreds of dollars. She paid me. She actually paid me… Five days ago, I would have taken it without question. Hell, I could have bought months worth of Mr. King burgers. EVEN fries if I was being luxurious.

But no. Instead, I found myself putting the cash away on my bedside table, knowing that I couldn't take it no matter what. Not now. Not from her.

I waited at the edge of my bed; waiting for Miley Stewart to walk right back through that door and back into my life… but it stayed close for the next hour. By the time it turned 12, I found my hope dimming as I climbed into bed. It still smelled like her, and I felt something cracking inside my chest. Shutting my eyes, I curled my fingers around the soft cotton blankets that were filled of so much of 'her' that I slipped into a perfect sleep almost instantly.


	7. Day Six

You know those days when you wake up, and everything just feels right? You're not cranky, or tired, or groggy or even lazy. One of those morning that the minute you open your eyes, you just want to jump out of bed and face the world with a huge smile and a full heart. Like nothing could possibly go wrong that day. You feel absolutely perfect.

Yeah. That was basically the complete opposite of my morning.

I pushed my face into the pillow next to me, wondering why the damn hell sun light had to have so much… light? I tugged the soft blankets that Miley had bought for me, and covered it up to my face. But then I got too hot, so I stuck one leg out.. But then one half was cold and one half was too hot. Goddamn. Why did everything have to be so complicated, I grumbled to myself. Frustrated from even just being in bed, I threw the blankets on the other side of the room and stormed out into the living room to sulk.

Oh, can't you just tell what an amazing day it's going to be?

I grabbed one of the only glass bowls I had left to start breakfast. I picked up a box of Lucky Charms (Yes. I eat Kid's cereals. Got a problem with that?), and went to the fridge to get a half- empty carton of milk. I took a quick sniff to see if it was expired. It was, but that didn't mean I wasn't going to drink it anyway. Psh.

I poured the milk in when the phone next to me started ringing. Just the sharp buzzing sounds gave me a damn head- ache. I reached over quickly to grab it, but my hand ended up knocking over my LAST glass bowl onto the floor with a loud SMASH. I didn't even have to look over to see the shattered pieces of glass mixed in with the milk and cereal and marshmallows.

Oh joy.

"HELLO?" I answered the phone, obviously in a bad mood.

"Did I call hell or is this the Nick Grey residence? Or is there a difference?"

"What do you want, Joe?" I grumbled, not really in a good mood to talk.

"Just wondering if you want to hang out…"

"Miley's not here anymore, if you're wondering…"

Joe didn't seem surprised at all. "Oh. I know. She's with us."

I took a quick minute to pause. She was with JOE AND DEMI. She ditched ME for JOE AND DEMI; the Joe and Demi who she just met a few days ago because of ME. Great, just great. "So how is she? Did she mention me at all, or how she LEFT without a single message?" Though I didn't really count the 'sorry' as a proper goodbye.

"She was upset, man. I wouldn't blame her. I would have cried if you said those words to me… Okay. Maybe I wouldn't, you know what I mean."

I felt my heart stop, and I wasn't sure why. I managed to let my mouth open to release a soft mumble. "Miley cried?"

Joe sighed. "I don't know, man. She locked herself in the guest bedroom for a few hours. You were pretty damn harsh saying all of that. Especially after you guys were tongue wrestling in the dark yesterday."

"We were NOT tongue wrestling."

"So just no tongue?"

"Yes… I MEAN NO. Almost… I mean…GODDAMN JOE. Just give the phone to Miley! I want to talk to her!"

A pause on the other end as a few mumbles and soft voices came from the other line. One I could distinctly hear was Demi's loud and , but there was another voice; a voice that I knew all too familiar. "She doesn't want to talk to you, Nick. Sorry, man."

"What do you mean? I just heard her! Just give her the damn phone, Joseph!"

"I said, NO, Nicholas."

I sighed exasperated. "Can you take this seriously AT ALL?"

"Depends…"

I sighed again as I ran a stiff hand through my curls. Sometimes all I wanted to do was attack Joe Locke with a fork. "Well, I thought you said you wanted to hang out. I'll just see Miley later then, right?"

"Nope. Only guys night out. Or I guess just us… Oh and also because Demi is kind of pissed at you too, buddy. She says she's not going to talk to you from now on."

"Like Demi can handle not talking to someone for more than a day."

Joe chuckled on the other end. "True, true."

I took his sign of amused weakness to make my move."Where are you guys staying, so I can pick you up later?"

"The Wilson Hotel across town. What time are you going to pick—"

But I was already out the door.

* * *

Luckily, from the boyish charm I had gained back from high school, I managed to weasel the young girl working at the check- in counter into giving me Joe and Demi's room key. I also managed to get the girl's number… Not that I asked for it. She kind of just slipped it in with the room key...

After finding their room number, I took the flimsy card and slid it through. A loud beep indicated it had been unlocked, as I barged into the hotel. HOLY DAMN. The place was huge. It had to be bigger than my condo! I was too busy gawking to notice Demi walk into the hallway, while flipping through a magazine. As if sensing something was wrong, she glanced up and met my eyes. She screamed and threw the magazine on the floor. I stepped forward to calm her down, but she was having a huge fit like we were 5 and Joe stole her shovel in the sand box again… Wow. Demi sure knew how to throw a tantrum.

I stood there frozen, not knowing what to do. Demi ran out of the room and started screaming more. "JOSEPH ADAM LOCKE. YOU ARE DEAD!"

Joe jogged into the living room with a bit of fear in his eyes. It still amused me that Joe Locke, one of the toughest guys all throughout high school was scared to death by his girlfriend. "What did I do now, Demi?"

Demi barged back into the living room, her face red like a… hell, who knows what. But she looked like a damn lollipop about to explode. "What did you do, Joseph? What did you do? You did THAT!" she pointed a straight finger towards me. Joe looked over and followed the direction she was pointing until he met my frozen body in front of the door. I did a quick awkward wave, and Joe just shook his head.

"I can't believe you told him where we were staying! I told you Miley didn't want him here!"

"I didn't tell him, Demz! I swear… Okay, maybe I did tell him, but I didn't mean to. We were supposed to hang out."

"I don't even want to hear it, Joe. UGH. Why did I fall for such a bone- head?" she screamed at herself before stomping out of the living room. Joe followed after her, but not before flashing me a I'mGoingToKickYourAssLater look. I took that chance to look around. I went the opposite direction Demi and Joe stormed off in and found a closed door. Luckily enough, it wasn't locked, so I pushed through and found an empty and perfectly made bed.

A little disappointed, I paced around the room trying to clear my mind. Why was everything so complicated? WHEN did everything get so complicated? How did everything get so complicated? No matter what question I asked in my head, all pointed straight to the pretty auburn head of Miley Stewart. Why did EVERYTHING with her, have to be so complicated?

Oh yeah. Cause she's a pain in the butt.

But at the same time, I couldn't even control myself when I was with her. I was telling her things in the last six days that I've never even told people I've known for years. I was showing her a part of my life that I never even thought of revealing to anyone else. I was feeling things with her that I never even knew a person could feel. She was changing me.

Suddenly, another door from the other side of the room, a few feet away from me, opened. Next thing I know, something collides into my right side and I'm toppled onto the floor… or rather someone else.

"MILEY?"

"Nick?"

We were lying once again on top of each other. The only difference from now and yesterday was that today, she was wearing nothing but a thin white towel. "Oh my god."

"You're kind of wet," I mumbled, my breath hitching.

"Yeah," she blushed, not moving at all as she stared up at me. "I took a shower… obviously."

"Right…" I stuttered as I stared at the beautiful creature lying under me. Her skin looked like the most fragile of porcelain, and her body was just… Wow. I couldn't even find words to describe her right now. I was actually speechless. I was too scared to move, or breath, or do anything.

Suddenly, in perfect timing (Note the sarcasm), Joe and Demi burst through the door and catch me once again on top of Miley.

"Um… AWKWARD," Joe droned out as he stared at a wet and almost naked Miley lying right under me.

Demi gawked next to him, but managed to slap him in the back of the head as well. I needed to thank her for that one day. Miley and I scrambled off each other for probably the 100th time in the past week, and I walked over to the other side of the room, while a half- naked Miley walked to the other side awkwardly. "This isn't what it looks like."

"Tell me what it was supposed to look like, Nick, cause I'm honestly confused," Demi raised an eyebrow at both me and Miley. I glanced over at Miley, but she was just shrugging it off like we were just 'wrestling' on the floor and doing absolutely nothing… Okay. Well, technically, we really were doing absolutely nothing, but c'mon. She had to have felt that spark? I mean, how can she feel absolutely nothing, when I felt absolutely everything?

"She had a little something on her face," I said quickly. Demi, Joe, heck, even Miley flashed me weird looks. As you can see, I'm not very good with excuses, especially under pressure.

"So she had a little something on her face, so you climbed on top of her… while she was naked… just to get it?"

"Mhmm," I mumbled awkwardly, as I rubbed the back of my neck ferociously.

"It was a really BIG something on my face," Miley said quickly.

"Yeah! Um… A bug."

"A bug?" Demi and Joe shared an odd look as they stared at us with disbelieving looks. "You jumped on top of Miley because of a bug?"

"Right," I rubbed my neck again. Was it just me or was the room getting really hot?

"Um… I'm going to just go change!" Miley glanced down at her still half- naked self before slipping back into the bathroom.

I glanced around awkwardly. "Um, me too!"

Just before I was out of the guest bedroom door, I felt Joe grab onto my shirt collar as he dragged me outside, like I was a damn dog. "Oh no you don't, Nick. You're coming into the living room and talking to us."

I struggled to swivel out of his grasp, but Joe was just too strong. Not to mention that Demi was standing right behind me, pushing me, or rather shoving me ferociously, out the door. I befriend these people for over half my life, and what do I get back? Abused and man - handled.

They threw me down on the couch, and they both took the seat opposite of me. I sat a little uncomfortably, since I had absolutely no idea what they were going to say to me, but hey. Seeing me lying over a Miley in a towel was pretty damn embarrassing enough. How much worse can it get?

"Rape is a really—"

Never mind. It can get worse. "WHAT? Joe, I didn't rape her! We weren't even doing anything! And if we did do it… not that I'm saying we will, but let's just say we did, which would be so awkward if we did because I mean, c'mon, she's so not… okay, well maybe I do think about it, but she's got the body and stuff and she's pretty hot, but I mean, NO. I wouldn't.. um… maybe… um… Wait. What was I saying again?"

Joe and Demi shared a look and rolled their eyes at me. "About Miley and what we saw in there…" Demi asked slowly, as if I were back in kindergarten again.

I blinked a few times until it came back to me. "Oh, I was saying that, I wouldn't force something like that on her! God no!"

Demi and Joe looked a little relieved as they shared another look and nodded. You think that after going to elementary, middle, and high school together, they'd at least know me better. "Sorry, Nick, but we're just confused. We come back to town and you're shacking up with this strange girl who 1. We've never heard about ONCE. 2. Never seen her around town. 3. You seem like you don't know her either. One night you're all over her, an hour later, you're screaming crap about her to the world. And then today… it repeated?"

"1. I don't tell you guys everything. And we're not 'shacking up'. She's just visiting for awhile."

Demi and Joe rolled their eyes, completely disbelieving everything I was saying.

"2. She's not from around town, if you guys actually open your ears. She's from New York, remember."

They looked a little calmer and less skeptical as they listened to me explain.

"3. I didn't mean what I said yesterday, okay? I don't hate her. I was just upset and embarrassed and wanted to get home. I had no idea what I was saying. And I definitely didn't mean for her to hear it."

Joe leaned forward and clasped his hands together. His eyebrows were wrinkled together, showing that he was confused. "Then what do you feel about her?" Demi looked just as curious.

I shrugged, because honestly, I knew if I opened my mouth, everything would just flow out from my mind to my tongue. "I don't know," I answered quickly and simply.

"So you don't feel anything romantic between you guys?" Demi raised an eyebrow.

I shrugged again and rubbed the back of my neck uncomfortably. "I don't know."

Demi and Joe shared those telepathy looks. Goddamn. Those two could just read each other's minds from a second glance. It used to be just plain annoying and weird since I would sometimes be left out, but now, I felt almost jealous. Jealous that I didn't have that sort of connection with someone. A someone who started with a Miley and ended with a Stewart.

"The great Nick Grey doesn't know, for the first time in his life. Now that's big," Joe chuckled to himself. I rolled my eyes at them, but I knew it was half true. All through high school, I always knew the answer to everything… (Well, in life. Not in school. Not even close in school.) Even when I was so far off and damn wrong, I still made it seem right, and everyone somehow managed to believe it. In the eyes of high school, I was a goddamn genius!

A soft cough sounded from behind us, and all three of our heads snapped around to see the one and only Miley Ray Stewart standing there awkwardly… and fully dressed. Today, she wore this cute little summer dress that hugged her curves in all the right places and cut off just a little above her knee. It was amazing how she managed to look unbelievably sexy, but not slutty like all the rest of this hell of a town.

Wait. Did I just describe Miley Stewart as being unbelievably sexy? … Oh yeah. I did… Crap. I was not going to go through this again…. But man. She looked so damn beautiful in that dress, and her bangs swept up. It was hard not to fall for her from just one glance… Wait, I stopped myself from thinking. I just said I was falling for her… I was falling for her… I was freaking falling for her.

"Hi," she smiled sweetly, though I could tell the whole incident back in her room was still fresh in her mind. Her cheeks were slightly flushed as she took a few more steps into the room and closer to us.

"Hey," Joe grinned as he did a quick wave over for her to take a seat. Demi groaned and pulled Joe off his feet.

"We have to go um, check something in the kitchen! You guys can talk for a second while we go do that um, thing in the kitchen!" Demi said quickly, nudging Joe and flashing me a Don'tMessThisUp look

"What thing are you talking about? And WHAT kitchen? We're in a damn hotel, Demz. Have you lost it?" Joe asked, his eyes filled with absolute confusion. Ah. Isn't he such a bright child?

Demi nudged him again, hard enough for Joe to choke back and clutch onto the side Demi had hit. "No, remember? That thing in the kitchen," Demi smiled again. In her language that basically meant: _Let's go to another room so we can eavesdrop and hear everything they say without making them completely uncomfortable. DUH. _Joe still looked lost as he flashed her another look basically saying she was insane. Demi grumbled something to herself about how she got stuck with this guy before grabbing his arm and down- right forcing him out of the room.

Chuckling, I turned back around, and suddenly remembered that I was now completely alone with Miley. She looked just as uncomfortable as me as she rubbed her arm up and down and bit her lip, thinking of something to say. I was pretty much doing the same thing as I ruffled up my hair nervously. Suddenly, Miley stepped up and walked over right next to me and took my hand away, as she started messing with my hair.

"Don't play with it. I like it when it's neat," she smiled as she swept the small curls off my forehead. Her hand grazed the tender spot of skin on my temple and I felt that rush of energy go through me again. I wondered if she felt it too. "There," she sighed as she finally took a seat next to me. We were close enough to talk, but at the same time, the distance to me felt so far that I felt like we were standing between two mountains. All I wanted to do was be next to her…

"So, hi," I mumbled awkwardly.

"Hi," she copied my same shaking tone.

"You left," I continued, not really sure how to say everything that was going on in my mind.

She nodded slowly and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I did. But I left a note."

"More like a word."

The gray eyed girl shrugged tensely. "I didn't have anything else to say."

"I don't get it though."

"Get what?" her storm eyes perked up as they clouded with confusion.

"What you were apologizing for," I answered quickly.

She bit her thin bubble- gum pink lips again and averted her gaze away from meeting my own eyes. "I honestly don't know. I guess for just forcing you to take me in, and having to be with me when you obviously made it clear that you didn't want to…"

Crap. Here I go.

"I didn't mean what I said yesterday night, Miley. I was just really upset and tired and so many other things that I don't even know. God. I was probably PMSing."

Miley giggled a little as she flashed me a look. "Do you even know what that means?"

"Yeah… kinda… sorta…" I lied. To be completely honest, I just use the word since all the girls I hung out with used it so many times. _I'm PMSing… OMG! She's so PMSing… GOD. Stop PMSing on me!_ PMSing this, PMSing that. It was hard for it NOT to catch on.

I sighed and looked at her. Like STRAIGHT at her, so much that I finally noticed the small scar right above her eyebrow, or that she had small freckles sprinkled all over the bridge of her nose. She was absolutely beautiful. What was the point of even denying it anymore? "I guess, what I'm trying to say, Miley…is that I…" _think I'm falling for you._ I wanted everything in the whole wide world to have found the strength to let those five simple words slip off my tongue. But NO. Of course not. Nick freaking Gray had to just say, "I really like your um, dress. You have really nice arms."

She glanced at her arms, and glanced back curiously. "Thank you? Is that all you were going to say."

I opened my mouth, but only snapped it shut again. "Yeah," I mumbled, though I was pretty much punching myself in the face in my mind. Why the hell was I such a damn wimp? "I didn't want you to be angry. That's all."

Miley Stewart once again sighed deeply. Was I really that damn frustrating? I mean, my parents always complained about it, or Demi and Joe would do it occasionally… oh, and John would do it pretty much every other day.. or hour… Oh yeah, and my teachers do it, and some people from high school… oh, and that store clerk, and that- … Okay. Well other than that, I was pretty okay… Aw. Who the hell am I kidding. I basically just named over half the freaking town.

"I wasn't angry at you," Miley finally explained, giving me a meaningful look. I looked back, but ended up just staring at her instead, being the creep I was. "I was angry at myself."

"But why? How? You're like… perfect," I managed to barely mumble out.

A small smile twisted onto the brunette's lips. "I don't know about that."

"Sorry," I mumbled awkwardly. "It just kind of came out."

Miley Stewart laughed softly as she toyed with the tips of her hair. "You do that a lot. I've noticed."

I felt my face heat up for no damn reason. "Really?"

"Yeah. You say some of the weirdest—"

"No," I stopped her. "You really pay attention to all the crap I do and say?"

She hesitated on her answered. "It's kind of hard not to. You're a pretty interesting person, Nick Grey," she smirked.

"So are you, Miley Stewart."

"My name used to be Destiny," she smiled softly, almost in a teasing way. "I remembered this morning when I woke up. It all comes in small bits and pieces now. Some days more than others, and some I don't remember anything at all... My name used to be Destiny Hope Stewart, but I changed it around the time I was a 14. I don't remember why, but I just remember my dad's story about why he named me Destiny. And how he had a dream that I was meant for so much bigger than this. He said it was my destiny to change the world."

"And the Hope part?" I asked, waiting to hear the deep emotional meaning behind her middle name.

"Oh. It just sounded cool."

"Oh…"

"Yup," she shrugged.

"Well, you and your Dad seemed close, from what you've told me so far."

A small smile played on her lips, and I knew I hit a sensitive question. A good sensitive. "Yeah. Even when I can barely remember him, I can feel it, you know? I can barely remember their faces or all the specific memories in between, but I can remember that I loved him. I think he was my best friend."

"I never had that feeling."

She glanced at me curiously. "You were never close to your Dad? Even for a day? A moment? There has to be something."

"Well, there was this one thing," I finally sighed. "My dad had this thing with model boats. We used to build a new set every summer and just test them out on the lake. They were amazing, and they actually worked… I think it was one of the only things my Dad and I bonded over. We weren't very compatible."

"I'm sorry."

I shrugged. "You don't have to be. We were never close."

"Don't you ever wish you had more time with him? To change that?" she asked, looking at me straight in the eye. No one had ever asked me that before. I guess, when I said I never wanted to talk about my parents, they never tried to push that line. But did Miley Stewart care? Nope. She just keeps on pushing.

I looked away, not being able to handle her gaze. "I don't know. I wouldn't even know where to start. To me they were just parents. People I was forced to grow up with. To you, they seemed like actual family."

Her smile faded, and I knew the curiosity of where her parents where and how she would find them again was slipping past the safely barricaded walls of her mind.

"You'll find them soon. Don't worry. Your memory is coming back quicker than I thought it would. It'd only be another matter of days before you remember everything."

"I hope so," she sighed slowly. She crossed her arms over her chest again. "I was wondering if you could take me to the doctor tomorrow. I really want to have a doctor's opinion on how all this memory stuff works. Just a little reassurance, you know?"

Oh crap.

"Um, I can reassure you!"I said quickly. If there was one place I didn't want her to go, it was the damn clinic. Though I hadn't seen Tyler or Liam or anybody from that gang in the last few days, (Thank God), that didn't mean that I wanted to explain to half the town how she lost her memory. Of course, they would be curious, and I was only lucky that Miley didn't question more into how she had 'fallen and hit her head'.

"No," Miley shook her head. "I really want a doctor's opinion. Please, Nick. Just for an hour, and after that you don't have to ever see me again," she pleaded with those deep gray eyes. She was doing that pleading puppy dog face again without even trying. Damn. This girl had skills.

"What if I do want to see you again?" I shrugged a little shyly. Who knew the day would come when Nick Grey; the guy who got everything with a snap of his fingers would ever be shy.

Miley smiled and moved a little closer. "I think we can arrange that."

I felt my own smile building on my face. "So I guess first thing when we wake up in the morning? I don't have work tomorrow, so I guess I can take you. Just get your stuff and we'll go back to my apartment."

I stood up, but surprisingly Miley hesitated as she rubbed her hands up and down her jeans indicating that she was nervous. She was biting her lip, and I knew she was holding something back. "What? What is it?" I stuffed my hands in my warm pockets nervously.

"It's just that… I don't think I'm ready to go back yet."

"But I thought…" I stopped, not really knowing where this was all going.

"You thought we were good again. I know, and we are! Trust me. I'm not mad, and I was never mad. It's just that I need some time to myself to think about some things, and I really like Demi and Joe… I don't know, Nicholas. I just want to stay here for right now."

I brought my hand to the back of my neck and rubbed and rubbed until I was pretty sure I left a mark. I couldn't help it. I was nervous. SHE was making me nervous. "So you want ME to take you to the doctor tomorrow, but you don't want to BE with ME?"

Miley shook her head quickly and clasped her hands together exasperated. "That's not it at all. I… How do I…" she stuttered looking for the right words. "I have no one else to turn to."

"Because Demi, Joe, Selena, and Taylor all still think you're some innocent girl from New York who just came to visit me, right? You're only asking me, because I'm the only one who knows the TRUTH about you?" I asked a little disappointed and hurt. I wanted it to be because of something more, but I was just killing myself from even expecting it. She didn't want me, I scolded myself. She just needed me temporarily.

"That's not it at all… Okay, maybe a little, but it's not what you think," she sighed sadly. "Nothing's coming out the way I want it to… Just… Don't be angry."

I shrugged it off even though I was basically stabbing myself from the inside. "I'm not. I just don't really understand what's up between us."

She opened her mouth as if about to say something important. I could just tell from the way she took a deep breath; something she always did when saying something relevant.

"It's better this way."

That was all she had to say. I could see from the finality in her eyes that she was at a loss of words.

Still completely confused, I looked away from her, knowing that taking one more glance at her would just kill me a little bit more. Standing in the same room as her was already pushing it. I guess I was just really frustrated that I could never get out what I wanted to say when I was around her. Before crossing paths with her, I always knew what I wanted and how I wanted to do it, but with Miley Stewart? I felt like I was in another continent, world, planet, galaxy, and whatever the hell is bigger than a galaxy (Hell, you know I didn't pay attention in Science.) And I had no idea what I was doing. I felt like old Simon Crow from High School. The one guy who could barely stutter out a word to a girl. Aside from his teachers, his mother, his grandmother, and his best friends… which I guess is also his grandmother.

"I should go," I mumbled awkwardly.

"Don't you have work today?" Miley asked, tucking her hair behind her ear casually. How the hell could she sit there and act like NOTHING was going on, when I was standing over here having an earthquake in my chest? It just wasn't right.

"Yeah."

"John let you come late?"

"No." (Aren't your proud of my wide vocabulary?)

To be completely honest, I completely forgot about work. Actually, I forget almost every morning since I first got the job. Thank god, I had nothing else to do since pretty much high school, so that blank time always reminded me that I had SOMETHING to do. It was amazing I even remembered to use the bathroom at points of the day.

John's going to be pissed when I get there. Maybe I shouldn't even come at all, because to be completely honest, after this morning, all I want to do is crawl up in bed and take a long long long long long long long long nap.

"I don't want it to be like this," Miley finally sighed as she stood up and brushed her baby blue dress down to a smooth flow around her waist. "I don't want you to hate me."

I had to snicker. "I don't hate you."

"Well, I don't want you to act uncomfortable around me."

Sighing, I just shrugged and turned around to exit the room. I had nothing left to say, and I was still waiting to get to that nap. (Yes. It's still morning. I just woke up a few hours ago, and yes. I still want my nap. Got a problem?)

Joe and Demi stumbled out of the hallway the minute I entered it to reach the door exit. I tried to flash them reassuring smiles even though smiling was the last thing I felt like doing right now. "I'll see you later, Joe. We're still hanging out, right? Meet up with me at 7, okay?"

Joe glanced at Demi, then back at me, then to the living room where Miley was probably still standing alone. "Um… okay."

"Did you mend things up with Miley?" Demi asked eagerly. She was always someone who would butt into all your relationships no matter what.

"You can say that," I shrugged, not exactly sure how to answer the question. "Or you can also say we didn't."

Demi groaned as she rubbed the side of her head; almost as if I was the one who was giving her a damn head- ache. "Why do you have to be so hard sometimes, Nick?"

"I'm not being the hard one!"

Demi and Joe glanced at each other AGAIN. Goddamn. I swear if I had a freaking cookie for the times Joe and Demi would have those glances, I could feed a whole country in Africa. "Sure, Nick. Sure."

I threw my hands up, completely frustrated that my own friends were going against me. "Why does it always have to be ME that's blamed? Does the fact that I might actually not be the bad guy in the situation ever cross your mind?"

Demi frowned as she moved closer and placed a gentle hand on my arm. "We don't mean to, Nick. It's just that we're used to it. High school and—"

"Well, maybe I'm not the same guy I was in high school."

"We've been starting to realize that, man," Joe smirked. "I don't think any of us are. Except maybe Taylor, but you know…"

"Taylor is Taylor," I finished for him with a chuckle. Even through laughter, I still felt the weight of the awkward silence weighing down around us. "I'll see you later then."

I waved a quick goodbye and got back into my car and drove home the same route I had taken since I was 17. So why even then, did I feel so lost?

* * *

After a few drinks, a few more drinks, and a few more drinks, I found the whole room spinning from under my feet as my best friend, Joe Locke guided me around to a soft place to sit down. I swear to god if it weren't for his hand holding me up, I would have pretty much collapsed on the ground face- first. I didn't mean to drink this much, but everything that was going on was just pushing and pushing into the front space of my mind, and all I wanted to do right now was relax and forget. Specifically forget a certain Miley Ray Stewart who took up 98.999% of the space.

I collapsed on the couch. Hell, I didn't even know if it was a couch, but it was soft. I rubbed the smooth material with my hands as I got comfortable. I could barely see the shape of Joe as he took the seat next to me and put his head in between his hands. He was grumbling something about, not having me drive home and how he shouldn't have let me get that last drink. Who knows. Right now, all I could hear was my own heavy breathing and the music pulsing off the dance floor.

"Joe, what do you think of Miley?" my words slurred. I honestly couldn't even focus anymore. "Don't you think she's a pain- in- the- youknowwhat," I laughed like a freaking hyena.

"She's nice enough. Kind of bossy, and a neat- freak. Did I tell you she organized mine AND Demi's suitcases to color coding and style? Oh, and different, but nice enough."

"Yup. That's my Miley for you!" I laughed loudly.

"Your Miley?"

"What?" I giggled like an idiot.

"You called her your Miley," Joe screamed over the music.

"Pshhh. No I didn't. Pshhh…"

"Yes you did."

"No. I didn't."

"Yes. Yes you did."

"Aw crap," I mumbled as I dropped the drink from my hand. The brown liquid sloshed all over the floor, but I knew if I dropped down to pick the cup up, I would most likely just topple over and make a bigger mess on myself. I didn't even want to go through the trouble. I was so so out of it. "Miley's just a friend… a stubborn friend… a stubborn, hard- headed, never listens, know it all friend… a—"

"Nick," Joe said with that warning in his voice, but I honestly barely heard it. To me in this stage of the buzz, everything he was saying was just like static.

"A stubborn hard- headed, never listens, know it all, absolutely breath- takingly beautiful friend who I think I'm falling in love with."

Joe grabbed me just when I almost toppled over to the side. I let out a small giggle as felt him push me back into place, hoping I would keep balance. I honestly wouldn't be too sure either.

"Did you just say what I think you said?"

I slapped him on the shoulder and fell over again from the sudden movement. "What are you talking about?"

Joe helped me up to a straight sitting position again, though I was sure it wouldn't last much longer. "You called Miley breath- takingly beautiful and that you're falling for her."

"No!"

Joe shook his head as he grasped my shoulders. "Don't deny it this time, Nick. I know you're completely wasted, but c'mon. You just said you were falling for her."

"NUH- UH!" I corrected, putting my finger up with a loud giggle. "I said I was falling IN LOVE with her, Joseph. Not just falling for her, Joseph. Tsk tsk. Silly Joseph."

I fell forward in deep laughter for no damn reason, and Joe grumbled something to himself before helping me up once again. "You are so wasted, man. I should never have even let you come here. I can't believe this place is even still up. It's like a death hazard everywhere."

"I'm sorry. Not everyone can afford your big- shot night clubs up in New York," I retorted spitefully. Joe just shook his head as he helped me up.

"We're going home. I think Nick Grey has had enough of the night."

"No. Nick Grey has not!" I argued, just as Joe was basically pulling me up by the arm. "C'mon, Joeyyyyy. Just one more dance!"

Luckily, my best friend sighed knowing that there was no way he was going to win this. Surprisingly, a drunken Nick was harder to persuade than a sober one. "Fine, Nick! ONE song! I have to go make a phone call, so I'll be back in a few minutes. And THEN we have to go straight home. Okay?"

"Okay!" I flashed him a quick thumbs up before running straight into the dance floor. Before I knew it, I was grinding next to this tall red- head with a group of other girls just dancing around us. I was wearing some kind of head band around my neck, and was currently screaming out the words to Milkshake.

"MY MILKKKSHAKEEE BRINGS ALL THE BOYSSS TO THE YARD. AND THEIR LIKE, DAMN RIGHTTTT. IT'S BETTER THAN YOURS! DAMNNN RIGHTTTT. IT'S BETTER THAN YOURS!" I shook my butt, like who knows what. I honestly didn't even know if what I was doing was counted as dancing, but hell, I was having the time of my life. Suddenly, after a few more songs and a few more dances and a few more booty shake lessons from my lovely dance partners, I managed to stumble out of the crowd to look for Joe. Luckily it wasn't too hard, since he was the only one just standing there tensely. Talk about a sore thumb.

I stumbled towards him with a huge grin slapped across my face. "Joe Locke! My friend, mi amigo! I LOVE YOU, MAN!" I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him into a huge hug.

Joe pushed me away with a worried look on his face. "Where have you been? I said ONE SONG!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Take a chill pill, man!" I giggled idiotically. "I was just learning the booty shake over there and mixing my milkshake! WOO!" I raised my hands for a high- five, but Joe didn't move. "C'mon, dude. Don't leave me hanging!"

Joe crossed his arms in front of his chest and gave me this pissed off look. "Where the hell are your pants, Nick?"

"MY PANTS?" I laughed, wondering why he was asking such a random question, but when I looked down, I saw no pants. Just boxers. Not to mention, that being too lazy to change into something appropriate, I was wearing my Spiderman boxers. The same Spiderman boxers from pretty much sophomore year. "Oh crap." But I ended up in just another fit of random giggles.

"Never mind. Let's just get out of here. Demi's already screaming at me, because WE were supposed to be back over an hour ago."

I shook my head and slapped him in the shoulder. "Pshhh. Demi never screams at you."

Joe paused and shook his head as if I didn't understand anything. "Just get in the car before I have to drag you in."

I threw my hands up. "Fine, fine. Can I just have one more drink before we go—"

"NO!" Joe pushed me out of the club before I could even say anything else. I found myself stumbling around the sidewalk. I probably wouldn't have even made it out of the club without Joe's steady hand on my arm, leading me to his car. By the time, we were already inside, buckled it, and on our way to drop me off, I found the energy from all the beer starting to wear off as I started to slowly fall asleep.

"Joe," I whispered so softly that I thought it would have been impossible for Joe to have even heard me. But he did. Joe turned his head for a quick second as we stopped at a stop light. I leaned my head on the window feeling myself drift off to sleep with the deep buzz still fresh in my mind. "Don't tell anyone about tonight."

"Why not?"

I sighed. "Because I don't want anyone to know."

"Why?"

"Just because…," I mumbled, falling into a state of almost half- sleep.

"That's not an answer, Nick," Joe simply replied as he neared my block.

"Because I'm disappointed," I finally managed to whisper as I felt sleep overtake most of my body.

"Of what?" Joe's words barely made its way into my mind.

I relaxed as I let sleep slip envelop me completely. But not before I was able to whisper out the words, "Disappointed in myself."


	8. Day Seven

I clutched onto the steering wheel with every stabbing pain of the hangover as it attacked me over and over again. I regretted drinking that much last night, but hey, there was no stopping what I did now. All I wanted at the moment was good, warm cup of coffee. Yes. I actually do like coffee now, but only one kind of brand. Miley's.

I found out she had left me a few more cups of coffee before she left, and I ended up gulping as much down as I could this morning. And still, here I was wishing I had another one of those amazing cups in my hand. If there was one person who could completely switch my perspective around a damn beverage, it had to be Miley Ray Stewart.

I stopped in front of the Wilson Hotel, and unsurprisingly, Miley was already waiting there, fully ready and awake as if she had just woken up hours upon hours ago. She smiled softly as she saw my car approach, and I felt my stomach flip from just seeing her standing there, smiling at me. Somehow in some way, I felt lucky. Lucky to have the pleasure to even have her next to me; lucky to even have the chance to know her.

"Good morning, Nicholas," she greeted politely as she slipped into the passenger seat. Her hair was tied up today except for her bangs which were dangling loosely at the sides of her head perfectly. "God. I love these car," she sighed, rubbing the leather seats as if they were pure gold.

"Are you going to be taking this Nicholas thing into permanence?" I smirked as I drove back onto the road.

"Sorry. I can't help it."

I shook my head. "It's fine. I don't mind. I actually find it cute."

Her face blushed a slight pink as she smiled at me. I mirrored her smile as we started the hour long drive to the next town. We passed familiar stores and faces, and it just occurred to me how close everyone was in this town to even slightly know each other. I glanced over at Miley, but she was staring out the window lost in thought.

"What are you thinking about?" I asked, glancing at her quickly before bringing my eyes back up to the completely empty road. It was just us and nature.

She laughed softly. "How do you know I'm thinking about something?"

"I just know you."

She smirked and looked back out the window. "You can't know me. _**I **_don't even know me."

I glanced at the slim brunette quickly and smiled. "I think I know you better than you know yourself right now."

Miley laughed again as she turned in her seat to really look at me. "Tell me what you know then." She raised a challenging eyebrow. I somehow managed to meet those intense storm eyes, while trying to keep my eyes on the road at the same time.

"I know you hate eating anything with cheese and mayo in the same combination. I know you never wear anything pink. I know you hate it when people tell you what to do, and when people touch your hair," I explained, chuckling once in awhile. Miley smiled and nodded. "I also know that you hate Sundays. You're deathly afraid of heights, spiders, and really tall trees."

Miley laughed as she gave me an odd look. "How did you know that?"

"Because you kind of told me, and I noticed how you always walk extra fast when we're going under the huge Sycamore tree down the street from my apartment."

Miley's lips twisted into a beautiful smile. "I didn't think you'd notice. No one has before. Well, I don't think so."

"I notice everything," I said simply, looking at her despite the fact I was still driving. Miley Stewart blushed as if I had just gotten on my knees and just given her the dam world in a box. She turned her head away as if embarrassed or somewhat flattered, but I just smiled and turned my head back to the paved road.

"You also love swimming, and you like waking up 5 hours before everyone else. You know more about cars than half the guys in this towns. You love your family like no one else I've ever met before. You actually LIKE to argue, and you love it when you win, which is pretty much 99% of the time," I continued with a building smile. I honestly couldn't even remember how I remembered all these things, but I did. And it was all coming back to like a huge wave, flooding me to the brim of my head.

"I do, don't I?" she smirked, nudging me.

"Oh, and you're slightly conceited too. I'm done."

Miley laughed again for probably the 100th time that day, and I just smiled back from the fact that I had made this girl sitting next to me the slightest bit happy. I honestly let the thought of slowing down the car cross my mind, or even just purposely making us lost, just so this drive could last that much longer. So I can stay with her just that much longer.

"That was pretty impressive," she stated. "But I can do better."

"About you?"

She shook her head and toyed with the strands of her hair again as she thought. "No. About you."

I smirked, knowing that she was going to have a damn hard time. From birth, I was always told to have been a closed book. No one knew how I felt, or even who I was half the time. The only reason Demi, Joe, Selena, and Taylor knew me so well was because they basically forced that 'book' open. Hell, they didn't even technically know me. More like half if not less. To be completely honest, did_ I_ even know me anymore?

"Shoot," I smirked, already curious on what she was going to say.

"You always wanted a dog ever since you could walk, so you could ride it all around the house and never have to walk ever again. You hate statues. You once had a pet fish, which mysteriously disappeared when you were 6. You're probably more in love with this car than anything else in the world… Not that I can blame you. You hate the smell of lavender and soap. You always play with your hair when you're nervous, and you also like to rub the back of your neck when you're REALLY nervous. You always have to chew gum between 4 to 5 P.M. , and you actually love your job no matter what you say. You hate static electricity ever since you broke down crying the first time you were shocked on the mall elevator, and publicly humiliated yourself by age 7. You still keep your baby blanket in the back of your closet, no matter how much you're going to deny it. You hate messes, but you just can't seem to push past your laziness to actually do something about it," she stated.

"True," I smiled, amused that everything she had said so far was basically right. I couldn't even remember telling her all this stuff.

"You find doing thrilling life- risking things a waste of time, but you do it anyway because you think it makes you seem cool."

I smirked to myself, knowing that it was kind of true.

"You can't eat a burger without a beverage, and if you could go anywhere in the world, you would pick your bed. You love your friends like crazy, no matter what they say or do. You have a burn on your right thumb, because you were stupid enough to touch the inside of an oven when you're mom asked if it was ready. You actually like to argue as well, and you love it even more when you win, which is the left- over 1%."

I laughed and glanced at her. It was getting harder to keep my concentration on the road, when someone like her was sitting right next to me. She was just so different. A good different. An amazing different.

"I'm not done," she smirked. Holy damn. How much more could there be about me? I didn't even know that much. Let's just say I'm not a very complicated person. I'm just one side of a coin. "You hate it when people tell you how to live your life, or even when they just talk about theirs. You degrade yourself because you're constantly comparing yourselves to your friends and everyone else from high school that actually became successful. You're scared of dying alone. You're scared of telling people you love them before it's too late."

She finished and crossed her arms in front of her chest looking straight at me, waiting for me to respond. I honestly didn't know what to say, except that everything she was absolutely true. I was too scared to even admit any of the last few things, but she said it. All of it. Straight in my face without a single hint of fear or worry in her voice.

"Wow," I managed to mumble out.

"Do I win?"

I glanced at her and managed a weak smile. "By a mile stone."

She smirked satisfied as she settled back into her seat. "I guess I do know you now. I really wasn't living with a complete stranger."

"You knew me better than I know myself, and I know you better than you know yourself. Weird, huh?"

She shrugged. "Well, technically, you have the advantage because I honestly can't remember anything about myself. Memory- loss, remember?"

"We're not taking that into account," I laughed, taking a quick smirking glance at her. She laughed easily, the small bell- like sounds escaping her lips, and filling my ears blissfully.

"It doesn't?"

"Nope."

She laughed again, her voice filling with a sweet sarcasm. "That's just so fair."

We rode the rest of the way in easy conversation about whatever came up in our minds. I learned a bit more about her, and she learned a bit more about me. I was almost kind of disappointed when I saw the other town already approaching across the distance. By the time, we reached the clinic, I felt as if the hour felt like minutes.

"We're here. We're actually here," she sighed as she unbuckled her seatbelt. She actually looked really nervous.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" I asked, making sure she was okay. She glanced at me and flashed me a smile that could have fooled anyone else. But I wasn't anyone else, and I knew the moment her lips twisted into that smile, that something was wrong. Right before she got out of the car, I grabbed her arm gently, making her turn towards me.

"What are you scared of? That you're not going to hear what you want to hear? That the doctor might say that all your memory might never come back?"

She sighed and clenched and unclenched her fists over and over again. "You really are starting to know me too well."

"I told you so."

A small smirk displayed itself on her lips. "Part of me is scared, and I don't even know why."

"It's normal to be scared… But then again, you're not really normal."

Miley rolled those gray eyes that were killing me from just looking, but I could tell she took it as a joke.

I continued anyway. "I mean, it's basically a miracle that you didn't go all insane on me when you woke up in my bedroom that first day with absolutely no idea on who you were… Well, okay. You did freak out a little. "

"Just a little," she laughed softly, as she slowly remembered the day she attacked me with question after question.

"But a normal person would have probably kicked me in the balls and ran out of my apartment screaming who knows what!"

She smiled a bit amused, and raised an eyebrow as she flashed me an odd look. "Was that supposed to be comforting?"

I laughed and smiled at her. "Everything's going to turn out okay, and this is coming from ME. Mr. Depressing himself."

She exhaled as if holding a breath she had been holding since the beginning of time. To my own surprise, her soft hand rested on mine for just a moment. She intertwined our fingers together and just stared at the two hands, fitting together like a finished puzzle.

"Thank you for coming me with me today, Nick. I… I wouldn't be able to do this alone."

I squeezed her fingers gently to give her a sign of comfort and smiled. "You don't have to," I answered simply, and for a few moments we just sat there, hand in hand staring at each other as if seeing each other for real for the first the time. Before I knew it, Miley had leaned over and kissed me lightly on the cheek. It felt so soft that for the first few second, I thought it was just a dream, another one of my stupid hallucinations… But when I entered back into reality, Miley was still pulling back, biting her lip.

"What was that for?" I asked, my face burning up so fast that I felt like I had just put my face in a pot of boiling water.

She shrugged, biting her lip again to stop a building smile. "Just because."

"That's not an answer," I smirking, mimicking her tone of voice, whenever I always shrugged off one of her questions.

She smirked playfully. "It's not supposed to be." She pulled away finally, and got out of the car. Disappointed in the vacancy in my palm where her own hand used to be, I walked out of the car too… Okay. Well technically, I stumbled out. The damn hang over was still pretty much there and I accidentally tripped on my left foot. How come I had to be born such a klutz? Miley was standing and waiting for me over there looking like a freaking swan, and here I was tripping over my own damn feet. It was only with her that I felt so irrelevant. It was only with her that I cared.

"Are you ready?" I asked, as I approached her. She was shuffling from foot to foot, and I knew she was still nervous.

She nodded simply, instead of saying anything else. I took that as a good enough sign as we walked into the clinic. It was a pretty small clinic since this town was almost smaller than ours, but it was pretty well- kept and clean for the most part. We entered a pure white waiting room. Goddamn. Everything was so white, it hurt my eyes.

"Go take a seat. I'll check you in, and see if we can see a doctor today."

"You didn't make an appointment?" Miley asked, completely baffled.

"Miles, there are like 10 people living here. Does it look like anyone else is here?" I motioned towards the nearly empty waiting room. The only other person here was some old guy who was talking to himself as he read some kind of Gossip magazine backwards.

She still looked a little unsure, as if the whole situation was so alien to her. Ah. City girls. Gotta love them.

After five minutes, we were already called into the doctor's office. Miley was sitting on those long beds, while I paced around the room, thinking of the worst case scenarios that could happen today.** A**. _Miley finds out the truth and leaves forever. **B**_. _Miley finds out and leaves forever + Tyler and Liam find out and drown me out in a lake. No problem… Or **C**_. EVERYTHING TURNS OUT OKAY!

Aw. Who the hell am I kidding.

"You look more nervous than I do, Nick," Miley laughed softly as she swung her feet forward and back from the high counter.

"What? Really? Pshh… No… Pshh. Why would I be nervous? I mean, it's not like I'm hiding anything… I mean! It's not like I have anything to do with… Wait. Um… Crap… Pshhhh. Nooooo. I'm not nervous. PSHHHH. PSHHH." I swear to god I just felt my eye twitch.

Miley Stewart stared at me like I was truly insane. Worry and confusion clouded her expression. "Are you sure you're okay?"

I opened my mouth to say something, but the doctor took that exact moment to barge in. He had that salt and pepper kind of hair thing going on, though I hated absolutely hated the name and color. Why would you compare people's hair to condiments? Seriously? Well, other than his stupidly- named hair, he was pretty tall and probably around his 30's. He looked like all those 'dreamy doctors' from all those stupid soap operas that no one actually watches (Except middle aged women who have absolutely no love lives). You know what I'm talking about? Those shows where every episode, someone has to go into coma and come back with an evil twin brother and all that other crap that never ever happens in real life?

I hated those kind.

And it didn't take a freaking genius to notice Miley's eyes perk up when he entered the room. She wasn't really interested in this guy, right? The shmuck looked in his fancy little clipboard and smiled at Miley. She smiled back with this flirty little look in her eyes. THIS HAD TO BE TO BE SOME KIND OF FEDERAL LAW!... What the hell… Wait. Was I actually getting jealous?

"Good morning, Ms. Stewart. What are you here for today?"

Miley, still filled with stars in her eyes, leaned forward and shook his hand. "Call me Miley," she slurred out.

Mr. L_ook at ME I'm A Cool Hot Doctor_ smiled back. "And I'm Dr. Cruise," he greeted.

I snorted at him. What a douche. "Let me guess. Your first name is Tom too?"

"No. It's actually Brett."

A guy named Brett Cruise who looked like THAT… AND he was a doctor? How the damn hell was I supposed to compete with that?

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and huffed in frustration. Puh- lease. This guy was a complete moron. Miley would realize it sooner or later.

"I really like your name. Brett. It's so… masculine," she giggled like a silly school girl. I'm guessing the realization thing would be later… much later.

"Thank you, Miley," he smiled back. God. He knows her for like 2 minutes, and he's already moving onto first names bases? Pervert.

"I'm here, because I hit my head a few days ago, almost a week actually. And I just decided to come in," she explained. "I just wanted to know if there was anything more you could tell me. I forgot my memory completely, and it's coming back piece by piece every few days."

The pervert stepped up and actually touched Miley's side of the head to see if the wound was still there. Luckily, it had faded, but the bump was still pretty prominent if she really pulled her hair back into a sleek ponytail. He touched the bump with his damn fingers, and Miley just stared at him with those stars in her freaking eyes. God. I can't believe he's actually touching her. Shouldn't this be illegal or something?

I crossed my arms in front of my chest and tried to give him the best evil glare I could manage from across the room. Ohhh yeahh. No one can measure up to a Nick Grey glare. No one.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Miley. Do you know how you fell and hit your head?" Miley shrugged and glanced at me. Both of them just stood there, staring at me, waiting for an answer . Great. Just great.

"Butting in much?" I spit out, crossing my arms sternly in front of my chest.

"Nick. He's the doctor. He has a right to know," Miley explained, flashing me a confused look.

Dr. What's His Name gave her this approving look that just made Miley melt all over again. Goddamn. "It's true, Nick. I'm just gathering as much information I can get to help Miley to the best of my ability."

I snorted loudly. "Sure..."

Not looking fazed at all, he turned back to Miley. He so couldn't keep up with a come back. Definitely. What a wimp. He looked through his fancy clipboard again and coughed awkwardly. "So um, Miley. Up to how much have you remembered since the accident?"

"I remembered a lot on the first day from the accident, but it was just generalizations, you know?"

The doctor nodded as if he did understand. For sure. The guy was probably another idiot who just managed to weasel his way through college and medical school by paying nerds to do their homework. DUH. That's what I would have done.

"I see," he mumbled. "Give me an example of things you're remembering."

"Well, I'm remembering a lot about family, and my early years around 6 to 12. Like I remembered my name originally being Destiny Hope, and changing it to Miley when I was 14. "

"Destiny Hope? What a pretty name," he smiled as he checked her temperature. What a little evil dirty flirt. But of course, Miley was probably drugged on something the guy had sneaked in her system as she giggled and mumbled a thank you.

After they took a few blood samples, he announced that it was time for Miley to take a quick MRI and x- ray before we could be released. He wrote a few more notes on his clipboard before turning towards us. "We have to go to another wing of the clinic. Will your husband go with you?"

I smirked, feeling accomplished. Oh yeahhh.

"God no. He's not my husband."

Wow, Miley. You just have to ruin my mojo. Why did she have to say it like I was a freaking disease? My smile faded, but I still continued my amazing death stare. They didn't seem affected just yet, but they will. Oh yes. They will.

"Oh sorry, my mistake. I just assumed that a beautiful young woman like yourself would have a husband already."

She blushed like one of those damn tomato faces. Ugh… Okay, so maybe she still looked just as beautiful, but still…

"Um. She's only _**23**_," I corrected, making sure the age was accented. "So she's still pretty _**YOUNG**_, more like a girl instead of a young woman. Like you're probably into _**WOMEN **_right? Yeah. Cause you're already old and stuff like that."

The condiment- haired doctor looked at me confused. "Excuse me?"

"I mean, you know, Miley over here is still a _**GIRL**_ not a young _**WOMAN**_. Because you called her a young woman, and she's not. Not like the girls YOU should be with. Not at all. Miley's just another _**23 **_year old _**YOUNG **_girl. Yup. Not like your type… not at all."

"Um…" The doctor and Miley were both flashing me looks of pure confusion by now. Finally, Mr. I'm- so- perfect- cause- I'm- a- doctor wiped his hands on his jacket and continued. "So are you taking your _friend_ with you?"

Miley glanced at me and shook her head. "Oh. He's fine waiting here—"

"YES. I'm going," I said quickly, clapping my hands together. Miley shot daggers at me, but I ignored her death stare as I followed them out of the room. I made sure I walked right in between Brett Big- Shot Cruise and Miley to make sure they wouldn't try anything with each other. Nuh- uh. Not on my watch.

"So just change into these in that bathroom, and enter that door, and we'll start the x- ray process, okay?"

Miley smiled at him adoringly and nodded. I gagged.

After Miley disappeared into the bathroom to change, the doctor turned to me. "We'll be doing the x- ray from another room. Come with me."

Man. This guy probably just wanted to go to some secret camera to stalk Miley while she was changing. What else would a perverted doctor do?

We stopped in front of this locked door, and he took out a huge chain of keys from his fancy doctor pants. He stopped shuffling as he found one with his name printed on top. "Oh, how special are you. Your own name on a key. Woo."

He raised an eyebrow at me. "Are you sure you're not the one who hit their head?"

I glared at him, using my famous Nick Grey death glare. Booyah. This was definitely going to work. "What's that supposed to mean?"

The stupid doctor just smiled this huge big- toothed smile and led me in. Was it normal to have teeth that white? No. I didn't think so. This guy was definitely a weirdo.

"Just take a seat there." He pointed to a stool on the other side of the small room. He walked over to a large computer chair as he settled in and started pressing buttons.

"Oh. I get it. So you get the big chair just cause you're successful, and I get the stupid stool cause I'm not. Is that how it is?"

He coughed awkwardly, and flashed me an odd look. "If you really want, you can sit in this chair."

"Yes. That's exactly what I'm saying. Took you long enough, big- shot." I said proudly as I stood up, and switched chairs with him. WOW. These chairs were damn nice. Was this real leather? It was so smooth and it spun around! There was even a kick stand that you could use to put your feet on. Man. I should really have become a doctor. This is the life.

"Are you enjoying your chair?" Dr. Cruise asked as he watched me spin around in the chair. Stalker.

"Eh. It's okay," I shrugged casually. I wasn't going to compliment anything that was HIS.

Suddenly, he turned and started smiling at the wall. What the—

"Hey, Miley," he spoke into a small microphone placed on a metal panel. "Just lie down on that bed there and relax. The MRI should be done in around 15 minutes."

I glanced over to the screen that separated us from the room Miley was in. She looked so fragile in that paper hospital dress that it almost hurt to see her standing there so alone. I wondered if she could see us, or if she could see me to be more specific, but she didn't show any sign of it as she lay down on the small bed on the edge of a large round machine. I could tell from the look in her eyes that she was nervous.

I pushed the pervert doctor out of the way, and pressed the small red button that worked the microphone. "I'm right here, Miles."

Though I was pretty sure she couldn't see me from the one- sided glass, she still faced me and smiled that smile that always made my heart do cartwheels in my chest. Her lips moved in a form that said Thank You. I couldn't hear her, but I didn't need to.

Finally, she relaxed as the machine swallowed her in for the x- ray. I took my finger off the button and stepped back. Before going back to my chair, I flashed Dr. Cruise a _HA- HA _look. He just gave me this look of either jealousy or telling me I was insane…. PSH. It had to be jealousy.

As I took a seat, I noticed a small framed wedding picture hanging on the wall. I raised an eyebrow. "So, Dr. Cruise. Does your wife know about your actions?"

He glanced at me. "Excuse me?"

I sighed, annoyed. "I SAID: Does your wife know you're a pervert?" Duh. How long does this guy need to take a clue?

He looked a little taken back. "I'm sorry, but I don't have a wife…"

Wow. A liar too. "That explains why you have a wedding picture."

He laughed as if I just said something so damn hilarious. "That's my sister."

My eyes bulged out of my eyes. "GOD. YOU MARRIED YOUR SISTER?"

"No. That picture was me at my sister's wedding."

I crossed my arms. "Sure."

He laughed and turned his chair to face me. "Let me just say that you are one of the most interesting people I've met on the job." I smirked. "But I just want to know what I did for you to hold a grudge on me. Have we met before? Is there a reason you hate me so much?"

I chuckled to myself. "Don't be so full of yourself."

He glanced over to where Miley was lying down and nodded as if understanding. "It's because of your pretty friend over there."

"Don't call her pretty."

Dr. Cruise nodded, with an accomplished look spreading on his face."Yup. It's all clear now. You're jealous."

"WHAT?" I stopped spinning in his chair and made my best innocent stare. "Psh. I don't know you're talking about."

"I could tell from the minute I walked into that room. Just the way you looked at her."

I opened my mouth to argue, but I couldn't find anything to counter back. "Is it really that obvious?"

Dr. Cruise paused for a moment to think about it. "Well… yeah. It's pretty obvious. So why don't you do anything about it? Have you even told her?"

"It's not that easy. Not everyone is a good- lucking, rich, and successful doctor. Sometimes girls actually REJECT you, as alien as that sounds to you."

"You know, success and money doesn't always equal happiness."

I rolled my eyes. "You sound like a hallmark card."

"I'm just saying… Let's take me for example. I'm everything you said. I have enough money to live a completely satisfactory life, but I don't have a girlfriend or a wife or anything. I'm alone. I'm lonely despite all that money."

"But you're a doctor! You're successful. You can get any girl you want."

He brought his hands up and motioned to himself. "Yet look at me. I'm alone."

I shook my head and clasped my hands together. "You don't get it. You can't just go up to a girl like her and tell her you love her. You just can't."

Dr. Cruise sighed and scratched his salt and pepper hair. "All I'm trying to say is… Don't measure your life in money and success. It's just ruin you."

A loud beeping noise caught both of our attentions as we watched Miley pull out of the machine. She stood up after it stopped and waved at us with a satisfied smile. I guess she managed to calm down during the x- ray. She flashed us another random smile before skipping back into the bathroom to change. Dr. Cruise pulled up a few images and clicked a few more fancy buttons before turning to me.

"We should go back outside," he explained quickly. Sighing, I stood up from the spinning chair and made a note to buy a chair like that someday. By the time we got outside, Miley was already standing there fully dressed and ready. She really always had to be first.

"I'll meet you guys at the waiting room after I examine the x- ray images," Dr. Cruise explained. As I turned to follow Miley back in the waiting room, I felt Dr. Cruise's hand grab my arm. He gave me this stern look. "Tell her before you regret it."

I opened my mouth to say something sarcastic back, but nothing would come out. I just stood there with my mouth hanging open like an idiot. Dr. Cruise finally let go, and walked the other way to the x- ray room. Still a bit shocked, I managed to stumble back down the hall to where Miley was waiting with a smile. She waved me over to the seat next to her.

"What took you so long?"

"Dr. What's his name wanted to talk to me."

"He's nice, isn't he?"

I smirked. "Oh, please. His hair is the name of what I put on my fries. C'mon. You can't actually like that douche!"

"I don't," she shrugged innocently. "I just think he's really smart. You can just tell."

"Smart," I snorted, but his words were playing over and over again in my head like those broken records my mom would always play in the basement. No matter how many times I told her to just throw the piece of junk away, she just couldn't let it go. Before I turned 10, I didn't mind. I enjoyed watching my parents dance together in the basement, until that old thing broke down. But after that, it became almost unbearable, and one day, after a huge fight that blew up, I woke up to find the spot where it had once been, completely empty.

I should tell her… I should… Goddamn. I should just man up and tell her! Not really realizing what I was doing, I grabbed Miley by the shoulders and made her look me straight in the eye. "Miley. I have something to tell you."

She raised an eyebrow as her lips twisted into a curious smile. "What is it, Nick?"

I took a deep breath. Here I go. "Miley Stewart. I'm just going to say this… I lo—"

"HI GUYS!" Dr. Cruise jumped in out of nowhere, completely cutting me off. "I have your x- ray results right here."

I crossed my arms in front of my chest, pissed off. "Excuse me. We were talking."

He flashed me a look I couldn't completely read. "Trust me. It can wait…"

Miley glanced between me and Dr. Cruise, obviously confused on what was going on. "Um… Did anything interesting come up in my x- rays?"

He turned back to her dazed, almost as if forgetting the whole reason we were standing here was because of the brunette standing next to me. "Oh right. Well, Miley, there doesn't seem to be any permanent damage, and you seem to be healing just fine. I'm pretty sure that your memory will be fully back in a couple weeks. You might even figure out other aspects that will answer other questions from your past. All in all, everything should be back to normal before you know it."

Miley's smile grew so fast that a timer probably couldn't even measure it. She squealed in delight before jumping straight into my arms. She held me so tight, that I actually felt my back crack. She pulled away, tears forming in her eyes. I would have been worried if she still wasn't grinning. "I'm sorry. I'm a mess. I'm just so relieved."

"I'm happy for you," I managed a weak smile. She wrapped me in another hug, and I just held her tight, wishing the moment would last a little longer… But of course, she eventually pulled away with a smile bigger than anything I've ever seen. I wanted to be happy for her, but for some reason, I couldn't.

"Can I talk to you, Nick?" Dr. Cruise asked politely. What could I have done now?

Miley seemed confused as I walked away to talk with Dr. Cruise; the same Dr. Cruise I had just been making fun of, but she didn't question us. I stopped in front of the front desk, and stuffed my hands in my jeans pockets. "What? What do you want?"

"Did you really just try to tell her you loved her?"

I threw my hands up in the air. "YOU'RE the one who told me to tell her! Remember? In the x- ray room? What are you? Bipolar?"

He slapped me in the forehead with his clipboard. I could already feel the bruise building on my forehead. "Why the hell did you just do that?"

Dr. Cruise grumbled. "Because you're an idiot!"

"How am I an idiot for taking YOUR advice?" God. This guy needed some major help. I couldn't keep up with anything he wanted me to do.

"I said tell her you love her, and you decide to do it in a hospital waiting room? Seriously? You have to save it for the perfect moment. You can't just say it anywhere!"

I rubbed my forehead where his clipboard had slammed into my head. "And you couldn't have just told me that nicely, instead of attacking me with your damn office supplies."

"I'm sorry, but you needed it."

"Thanks," I mumbled back, completely annoyed. "I sure hope you have a nice day, cause you sure ruined mine."

And with that, I took my big exit… even though I kind of tripped, but psh. No one noticed… Yup. Just keep telling myself that.

Miley was waiting exactly where I had left her awkwardly. I motioned for her to follow me as I exited out of the sliding doors and away from the clinic. I heard Miley's soft footsteps right behind me as she attempted to catch up to my quick stride. "Hi," she quickly said as she tried to keep up.

"Hi?"

"Do you mind telling me why my doctor just slapped you with his clipboard?"

"Cause apparently, I'm a huge idiot."

"About what?"

I sighed and shook my head. "About a lot of things. Can we just get out of here?"

"Should I be worried?" Miley asked, biting her lip in that completely adorable way. Finally making myself calm down, I turned towards her and wrapped her in a huge embrace. She fit into my arms so perfectly that it felt like she was built just to be right there. I could smell her familiar scent of melons and vanilla fill my senses as her hair pushed near my nose. I held her a little longer that I should have, but I couldn't help it.

By the time I finally managed to let her go, a big curious smile was playing on her lips. "What was that for?"

"I'm just happy for you."

She raised an eyebrow as if expecting more. "Is that it?"

"For now," I forced myself to smile back. Her curious smile was still frozen on her lips, but she managed to get into the car without asking more questions. None of us talked much on the way back, but it wasn't exactly an awkward silence either. We both seemed to be lost in our own thoughts.

"I'm done," Miley randomly broke through the silence first.

"Done with what?"

"Done with thinking. Done with being by myself."

"So…"

"So, I was wondering if I could move back into your apartment. I think I got a little too comfortable there," she smiled, looking a little nervous. I felt my heart slamming in my chest.

"You really want to move back in? I mean, stay with me temporarily?"

"If it's okay with you."

"Of course it is," I smiled, feeling the bliss of having her back in the safety of my own home. She smiled that beautiful smile of hers as she settled back into her seat and closed her eyes as if about to take a nap. I brought my gaze back to the once again deserted road and drove back to town in a sweet peaceful silence.

By the time we got back home, Miley was still in a deep sleep, and she looked so peaceful that I couldn't bear to wake her up. I slipped out of the driver's seat and went around to open the passenger car door. Trying to be as gentle as I could, I picked her up in my arms. She was so light, I felt like I was holding nothing but a bag of air. She felt so small and fragile in my arms, it was as if she could disappear at any second. I hugged her closer as she started to shiver from the cold New Jersey air. I took my jacket from the backseat and draped it around her shoulders.

I managed to get into my apartment and into my bedroom without tripping for the first time in my life. I gently dropped Miley on my bed, so she could finally sleep in warmth and peace, but every time I tried to pull away, she wouldn't let go. Just before I was going to pry her fingers away from me, one word stopped me.

"Stay," Miley mumbled in her sleep as she pulled me closer. Despite all the warnings in my head telling me to leave, I still found myself following her request. I slipped into bed next to her and stayed above the blankets as I tucked the rest of it around her, making sure she was as comfortable as she could be. She shuffled around in her sleep as she curled herself deeper into my arms. I sighed in bliss, letting the moment last as long as it could.

Before I knew it, I had already fallen asleep with a night full of dreams.

Every one of them about a certain storm- eyed brunette named Miley Ray Stewart.

* * *

_**A/N: Bahahaaa. I hope you're all enjoying the story so far. I love making Nick jealous.**_

_**And I know I'm making this whole Miley/Nick situation really slow, but hey. The're a complicated couple. I can't just let them get together that easily. ;)**_

_**And I just want to torment you... Hahaa. There's more important aspects to this story that hasn't exactly been introduced yet, but let me just say that this story is going to have A LOT of Niley fluff. I haven't had much of that in my last few stories, so I'm going to make sure this story is full of it. I also love writing this story because it's different from any of the other stories I write. This one isn't exactly that much drama, you know? It's pretty much just humor and pure randomness. Hahaa.**_

_**And, I love having these many reviews! Especially almost hitting 100 reviews before Chapter 7! I LOVE YOU GUYS! Especially when you guys give long reviews. I'm going to take this chapter to ask a few questions to make sure how you guys are liking the story.**_

_**1. Whose your favorite character?**_

_**2. Favorite couple? Or couples you want to get together?**_

_**3. Favorite Day/Scene?**_

**_4. What do you think is going to happen in the next few days, or if you want to jump ahead, what you think will happen in the end of the 21 Days?_**

**_5. Do you want more humor? Drama? Romance? etc..._**

**_6. Any new characters you want me to add throughout the story?_**

**_And just an extra for some readers. 7. If you read any of my past stories, tell me what's your favorite. Or if you're starting to like this better than Forget Me, Picture Perfect, The Truths About Lies, etc. _**


	9. Day Eight

By the time I woke up, every memory of every second of last night came rushing back to me in a deep suffocating wave. At first, all I remembered were the good memories that left me in bliss. Me and Miley's casual talks, so close to telling her how I really felt, and that soft kiss she had given me before entering the clinic… But of course, the bad slammed into me like a truck of painful realization.

I had slept with Miley Ray Stewart.

Okay. Maybe not the way you guys are thinking. Not the way I wished… Oh god. Did I really just say that? Wait… I mean… Ugh. Never mind. I mean technically, we didn't do anything we weren't supposed to, so why was my face burning up like a freaking wildfire and why the hell was my heart doing crazy flips and all that gymnastic stuff in my chest? I turned around slowly, expecting… and slightly anticipating to see Miley Stewart sleeping peacefully next to me in all her glory. But the spot was empty. Completely empty. The blankets on that side were already even made.

Damn that girl and her need to wake up hours before anyone else. Just for once, I wanted to know what it was like to feel someone right next to me the moment I woke up. To understand that feeling of knowing that you weren't completely alone, no matter what.

She's not yours, I reminded myself angrily. This is temporary.

Groaning, I forced myself out of bed, feeling dread washing over me to the brink of my head. I could already feel myself drowning in my own worry. What if she hadn't wanted me to sleep in the same bed with her? What if I completely misunderstood everything? What if she didn't say STAY at all, but instead just said SANWICH? MAYBE SHE JUST WANTED A DAMN SANDWHICH!

Calm down, Nick…. Calm down. You're losing it…. I repeated those words a few couple hundred times before my breathing got back to normal. But then again, that didn't mean that the worry had disappeared. If anything, it had gotten worse.

I took a great deal amount of time changing and re- changing and then just changing again, trying to look the best I could. I fixed my curls a couple times, but they wouldn't cooperate. I wasn't surprised. They wouldn't for the last 23 years. Why change now? Sighing, I pushed a loose brown curl off my forehead and adjusted the collar of my shirt.

All I knew was that if Miley was going to scream and me and completely reject me right in front of my face, I had to look my absolute best while she was doing it. I had to keep some of my integrity… Oh yeah, and I just wanted to look good for Miley. But pshh. Who needs to know the details? Finally, after a quick swipe of a comb, which honestly didn't do much, I took a deep breath, opened my bedroom door, and prepared to meet my maker.

Well, in this situation, my maker was cooking pancakes.

The fresh aroma of actual cooking going on in my apartment filled my senses the minute I took a step out of my room. Miley was wearing a long apron around her waist. From the faded food stains, I knew it wasn't anything new. She was in the middle of flipping a perfect golden pancake, when she finally turned around and caught me staring at her.

Crap. Here goes nothing.

"Good morning," Miley replied quickly, before I could get down on my knees and beg her to forgive me for being such an idiot. She was smiling chirpily, and I assured myself that she wasn't angry. Maybe even happy? … That I slept in the same bed with her? This girl was confusing me like that game of Monopoly I never learned how to properly play. (All the money and hotels and stuff just pissed me off.)

"Good morning," I greeted hesitantly. I walked over to the kitchen, where the sweet aroma of pancakes and a hint of something else got stronger and stronger. "What are you cooking? It smells different."

A small smile appeared on her lips as she put another pancake on her plate. "You noticed."

"My mom always said I had the best sense of smell she's ever known."

"It must be true, because almost no one notices until they taste it," she smiled, as she took a small piece on a fork and hovered it right above my lips. I bit into the small piece and let the explosion of heaven take over my mouth. My facial expression was probably going wild as Miley started to laugh softly. She picked up another piece and gave it to me. "Go set up the table, while I finish. I'm almost done."

"Set the table? We're already talking like a married couple," I chuckled, then stopped. Remembering what happened last night, and our relationship at the moment was still on shaky ground. No love and marriage jokes. CHECK.

I set it up to the best of my ability, which was pretty much just putting two plates and a fork on the table. Aren't I so talented?

Miley finished the last few batches, and set the finished plate on the table. She was still wearing that apron when she took a seat. "Where did you get that apron?" I asked curiously. It looked so damn familiar.

"Oh this?" Miley looked down at the tattered and stained cloth. "I found it in a box in the back closet. There's a lot of stuff there. I almost tripped from all the boxes," she joked lightly, but I wasn't laughing.

The realization slammed into me like a million of bricks pushing themselves on my chest, and halting every chance of breath I took. Suddenly, the whole room felt like it was suffocating me as I stood up and raced out of the room and stopped in front of the door that hadn't been opened in over 6 years. The lights were shut black, and when I swung open the closed door, pure darkness filled the room… But I could still see the outlined shapes of the cardboard boxes that covered the room from inch to inch. Over half of them had been opened.

I could hear Miley's soft footsteps trailing behind me. I felt tears of frustration pushing through the brink of my eyes, but I held them back, knowing that I couldn't show that kind of weakness in front of Miley. Or anyone.

"Did I do something wrong?" Miley's soft voice whispered.

I placed my head in my hands and shook my head. "Just give me back the apron. Please."

She looked confused, but at the same time, I knew she didn't want to make me any more upset. "I'm sorry," Miley mumbled as she handed me back the worn out apron that still smelled fresh from pancakes. She had no idea. She didn't know why I was so angry. She didn't know why I was on the brink of tears. No one knew. She was apologizing for nothing.

I folded up the apron and placed it on top of an open box. I tried to be careful not to touch anything else as I closed the cardboard lids and stepped away from all the painful memories. Not saying anything else, I shut the door that should have been kept shut forever. Miley was still standing in back of me, but she was so silent, it was almost as if she weren't even breathing. I couldn't meet her eyes for the first time I had known her, and to be completely honest, I didn't want to.

We walked back into the dining room to finish eating the pancakes she had made, but no one said anything the entire meal. Miley didn't touch her food much, but then again, neither did I. By the time I had finished a pancake, I had already lost too much of my appetite to eat anything else. I excused myself, and I knew that Miley wanted so badly to say something to make me stay. She seemed to be at a lost of words as silence escaped her soft pink lips, which were now held in a think stiff line.

Disappointment filling me, I stood up and got ready for work. At least I had a day to calm down without her standing there watching me. I wanted so badly to just be able to break down in front of her and tell her everything; to have just one person who I could tell everything to without that fear of something going wrong. I just wanted that someone, but like Miley, I was too scared to say anything else.

After changing and calming myself down a little, I stepped out of my room ready for work. Miley was cleaning the kitchen. She was nervous. She always cleaned when she was nervous. "Hey," I greeted, trying to at least make her feel a little better. She didn't know, and I didn't want to make her think this was entirely her fault. I just hated her seeing her this upset.

"Hi," she smiled weakly, even though I knew it wasn't a true genuine Miley Stewart smile.

"I'm going to work. I'll be back later."

Miley seemed a little disappointed, but she managed to swipe it off her face instantly. "Oh, right. Well, I have to go back to Joe and Demi's so I can pick up some stuff I left there. I'll see you later then?"

I managed to smile just a little before I left.

"Finally you show up!" Ol' John called out as he saw me approach the small garage. He was still working on that car of his when I got there. "I thought you were dead or something, boy!"

"Look who's talking," I muttered as I threw my stuff on the couch and lay down with my hands over my head.

"What got your tighty whities in a twist?"

Oh god. "Please just stop talking, John. I'm really not in a mood to talk to you right now."

"Boy, you're on the job, you have to talk to me. Was it that sweet Miley girl?"

I sat up grumbling. "Why does everyone think everything that's wrong with me has something to do with Miley?"

Old John chuckled to himself as if that question were the most hilarious question he had ever heard in his 100 years of damn living. "Most probably because she's the only thing you've been talking about for the past week? Everyone knows, boy. Everyone knows."

I threw my hands up exasperated. What the hell was this old guy talking about? "Everyone knows what, John? You're confusing me. Please tell me you've taken your meds again this morning."

John slapped my hands away. "Shut about my meds, boy, and listen to me. Everyone knows how you feel about Miley."

"MILEY?" I asked, my jaw hitting the damn dusty floor of this hell hole of a garage. "What do you mean everyone knows what I feel about Miley?"

Old John patted me on the back like I was about to have a mental break- down in front of him. I pushed his wrinkly hand away and raised an eyebrow. "We all know that you love Miley!"

"I DON'T LOVE MILEY!" I semi- lied.

Old John chuckled and just slapped in the back of my head. Goddamn. People just love doing that to me. "Don't be like that. We all know you do, so just go tell her. Girls like her don't go waltzing into your life every day, Nick. There's only one in every life time, and I don't want to see you lose yours."

I crossed my arms in front of my chest. "I don't know what you're talking about." To be completely honest, it still freaked me out that everyone knew about how I felt about Miley. Not to mention JOHN. This 10000 year old man wrinkling away next to me actually knew how I felt about Miley probably more than I did. Am I the only one who finds this extremely awkward?

"You're going to lose her and you don't even realize it," he shook his head disappointedly. "Remember that day I said you were lost?"

"Yeah?"

"It's worst. You've dug yourself in such a deep hole you can't even find your way out," John explained slowly, before rubbing his oil- stained hands on a rag and going back to work. I replayed his words over and over again, but it just wouldn't make any sense. I hated it when people went all Confucius on my ass. Did they not understand that I didn't get any of it at all?

Sighing, I just took a seat on the couch and counted all the spots in the wall until I lost count. Before I knew it, time swept by and I was forced to go home and talk to Miley. The minute I walked in, it didn't take a genius to know that she wasn't here. Miley Stewart had this thing about her. She was the kind of girl who'd turn all heads when she'd enter a room. She was presence itself. I eventually concluded that she was probably still at Joe and Demi's. Those two could talk forever. Trust me. I owe a lot of past curfews to those two.

I took that moment to think of ways to apologize for her. By now, the frustration subsided and disappointment in myself settled. Finally, I got the perfect idea as I stood up and prepared everything.

By the time Miley got back to my apartment, I was waiting in the kitchen with a spatula and pan in my hand. I stepped out of the kitchen and saw her standing there hesitantly. She raised an amused eyebrow as I walked out with flour all over my cheeks. "What are you doing, Nick?" she asked, a laugh escaping her perfect pink lips.

"I'm cooking… or at least I'm trying to."

Miley dropped her bags on the floor and smirked. "I can see that. Why?"

I dropped the pan and spatula and walked over to her. "Because you've done so much for me."

"Like butt into your life because I was stupid enough to hit my head?" she chuckled, and gave me a curious smirk.

"Yeah. That," I laughed, my smile growing on my face that she wasn't still angry from this morning. "But I also did this to apologize for being so weird this morning."

Miley tucked her hands in her back pockets awkwardly and shrugged. "It was my fault. I shouldn't have been going through your stuff. It was wrong, and I should be the one apologizing."

"Let's just not talk about it anymore then," I smiled as I motioned for her to follow me into the kitchen. Miley's eyes widened as she saw the mess in the kitchen. Let's just say I'm not good at this cooking stuff. I had a few dropped items, a few broken items, and a lot of just things that went absolutely wrong. I'm surprised I didn't burn the whole town down. "Don't say anything. I tried my best."

Miley picked up broken egg shells on the floor and threw them in the trashcan. She was such a neat freak, but I still somehow found that cute. "I'm scared to see your worst."

"Hey. Watch it," I teased. She stepped closer laughing and brought a slender finger to my chin. She took a swift swipe and raised a finger full of frosting to her lips.

"You baked too?"

"Tried," I corrected her quickly. The cake was one of the dropped items.

She laughed again, and just hearing that small sound gave me a sense of security. She walked over to the table where two covered plates were now sitting. She took a seat politely, and I sat down next to her. She still looked in awe, as if I had bought her every restaurant in the damn world instead of failed in making her a home- cooked meal. "I still can't believe you did this," she smiled.

"I can't believe it either," I chuckled, rubbing the back of my neck.

She giggled and glanced at the covered plate in front of her. "So what is it?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story. But in a nutshell, I dropped, burnt, or pretty much destroyed everything I meant to cook today, so I went for the second best thing."

"Should I be scared?"

"Depends…"

I took the covers off swiftly, and bit my lip in fear of what she was going to say. She laughed as she played with the bowl in front of her. "Cereal for dinner? I like it."

"Really?" I sighed, feeling relief washing over me.

She raised a spoon of Lucky Charms to her lips before swallowing. "Definitely."

Okay. I know what you're thinking. You're trying to woo the love of your life and you make her cereal? Well, hey! I tried my best, so shut up. Pshh. She likes it anyway.

After we finished our bowls, Miley and I washed the dishes and cleaned up the chaotic mess I made (which took a good while), and before I knew it, Miley had gone into the room to fall asleep. She didn't want to, but I could tell from the bags under her eyes that she needed it. The dinner had gone successful enough. She wasn't angry with me anymore, but I still kind of expected more. Not that I imagined Miley getting to her knees and proposing or anything, but let's just say I was expecting more.

After she had disappeared into my bedroom, I took a seat on the couch. Feeling stuffed from all that Lucky Charms, I settled back into my seat and sighed. From the corner of my vision I noticed a large pear like shake resting in the back corner of the room. Suddenly, my fingers started itching towards it as if on instinct. Before I knew it, I had picked up my old guitar and was back on the couch tuning it. To be completely honest, I hadn't touched this piece of junk since high school. I used to play it all the time. It was one of the first instruments my dad had first taught me, and I was damn good at it. I played at some small clubs and school shows, but nothing big. I even used to write some of my own songs, but that was when I was in the high point of my life and songs came to me so naturally. And then after graduation, the flow kind of just stopped. Songs and lyrics just wouldn't enter my mind anymore. I was stuck; uninspired.

Yet somehow, here I was strumming my guitar and forming my own melody as if I was back in high school. Like I was inspired again. And I knew where it was coming from too.

My inspiration was Miley Stewart.

Almost as if hearing my own thoughts, Miley crept out of my bedroom in her pajamas and just stood there staring at me play. "I didn't know you knew how to play guitar."

I shrugged and let my hands rest comfortably against the old wood. "I haven't played in a while. I can't believe I still even know how to."

Miley sat down on the couch next to me and smiled slowly. "I once heard that playing the guitar is like riding a bike. Once you learn it, it's stuck with you forever."

I grinned from the thought and just strummed an easy pattern that was buried somewhere in my memory. "I hope so. Music was always a big part of my life back then."

She smiled at me. "See. Maybe we're not all that different."

I remembered that day at the lake house and how her fingers just seemed to naturally flow over the piano keys, and nodded. "I guess not."

"Can you play me something?"

"I don't know what to play."

"Anything," she smiled, interlacing her own hands together in anticipation. Even through high school, back in my golden years, I was always shy in performing. Playing was one thing, but singing was another thing. My first instinct was to say no, but there was something nagging at me from the inside to play for her. I wasn't that scared when I was with her, so instead, I found myself to start singing.

_Called you for the first time yesterday_  
_I finally found the missing part of me_  
_I felt so close but you were far away_  
_Left me without anything to say_

_Now I'm speechless over the edge, I'm just breathless_  
_I never thought that I'd catch this lovebug again_  
_Hopeless, head over heels in the moment_  
_I never thought that I'd get hit by this lovebug again_

_I can't get your smile out of my mind_  
_(I can't get you outta my mind)_  
_I think about your eyes all the time_  
_You're beautiful but you don't even try_  
_(You don't even, don't even try)_  
_Modesty is just so hard to find…_

After repeating the chorus one more time, I strummed the final chord and let it ring between us. By the time I looked back up, she was just staring at me with a curious glance.

"I know I'm not that good, but I wrote it all the way back in high school, and I haven't sung in awhile so…"

Miley's building smile stopped me. "You really wrote all of that?"

I nodded hesitantly, not knowing whether she was going to praise me or laugh her butt off and tape my mouth closed forever. "You are so talented, Nick!" Miley finally burst out. Her lips opened and closed and opened and closed as if she couldn't find the right words to say. "Your voice is just… You're just…" she paused and laughed at herself. "I'm sorry, but look at what you did. You made ME speechless."

I chuckled. "That's pretty big."

"And you haven't played in years?"

I shrugged. "Not since high school."

"But you love music don't you? You love to sing and play. I can just tell from that look in your eyes."

I nodded as I started strumming the intro of another song. "Music's always been the one thing that's been there when no one else hasn't."

She nodded as if understanding completely. "Then why don't you do anything about it. Have you show your music to music producers? Agencies? You have the talent for it."

"They don't want to hear what I have to play."

Taking me by surprise, Miley moved forward and grabbed my face in between her hands without a single hesitation as she made me look straight into her storm gray eyes. "Listen to me, Nick. You're talented. Only few people in this world are born with it, and you have it. Don't let it go to waste. Stop degrading yourself, and telling yourself that you're not good enough. That's not true. You said you wanted to make a difference in the world. This," she pointed towards the guitar cradled in my hands as if it were a baby. "This is your way to make that difference."

I searched her flawless face for a sign of humor or sarcasm, but I found none. Suddenly, we both realized how close we were sitting. I could feel her own breath mixing with mine as we tried to take in what was happening. Almost as if we were connected by small invisible strings, I felt something pulling us together. Miley's hands were still cradling the sides of my face when she moved forward and pressed her lips towards me. The minute her lips met mine, it was as if all that small jolts of energy produced from those small touches had built up and exploded within me. I was feeling so many things I had never felt before. I moved my lips in a soft rhythm as Miley moved closer and matched it. I could feel her tongue slip into my mouth as we held each other closely, no sign of ever letting go. All my senses were filled with so much of her that I couldn't even concentrate. I felt like I was walking through a blind fog with nothing to lead me.

I mean, I've kissed girls before. Trust me. I've kissed A LOT of girls before, but never like this. Not like this.

After both of us were hanging on to a single breath, Miley pulled away first and pressed her forehead to mine. She was breathing heavily, and her heart beat was pressed right against mine as we just sat there, holding each other close. It took me a few moments to let it pass through my head. SHE. KISSED. **ME.**

"I'm sorry," she whispered, putting her fingers to her lips as if not believing that what we had just done was true reality. Before I could say anything to stop her, she had pushed herself out of my arms and ran back into the bedroom as if nothing had happened at all.

She left me sitting there alone in a compete daze that the kiss had still left me in. I felt disappointment settle in as I sat there, the kiss still fresh on my lips. I stared at the door she had managed to escape through and waited for her to come back. But I knew she wouldn't. Sighing, I picked up my jacket and managed to escape the apartment and everything Miley Stewart- related in it. I had to clear my mind.

She was the one who kissed ME, I thought to myself. Not the other way around. What had she been apologizing for anyway? Did she regret the kiss? Was I that much of a horrible kisser? Goddamn. All these questions were killing me. Miley Stewart was like a virus that wouldn't stop until it took every hold on you. I was far too deep to get out. Maybe Old John was right.

"Nick?" a familiar sweet voice called out. I turned around to see Selena standing there in that huge brown sweater again that made her look like a hotdog. She was waving me over, and even through the confusion in my head, I found myself walking towards her. Selena was always a close friend. The girl I could tell anything to. She was just calm and a really good listener. Like when I stuck gum in that girl's hair back in elementary, she waited until AFTER I finished to scream at me and hit me in the head.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at her clubbing attire under that annoying hot dog jacket of hers.

"I went clubbing with Taylor, which by the way, someone forgot to remind me how lame clubs are here."

I looked around, searching for that bubbly blonde, but she was nowhere in sight. As if noticing my wandering gaze, Selena sighed. "I made Taylor go home."

"Why?"

"Because this guy asked her to go home with him, and she was about to say yes."

I raised an eyebrow at why Selena was being so protective. She's had her own late night club rendezvous before from what I've heard. "What was so wrong with him?"

Selena snorted. "Oh trust me. He was like 40 years older than her, and she only wanted to say yes because he looked like that guy from the KFC commercials."

"The one with the beard and the cane?"

Selena cringed as she matched my horrified expression. "Now you understand why I sent her home." I chuckled easily, able to picture Taylor running off with a white bearded guy who loved fried chicken. That's our Taylor for you.

"What's wrong?" she asked as she studied my face closer. My face was probably a huge depression icon right now. It wasn't too hard to figure out.

"Your _kind_ is what's wrong," I grumbled to myself, stuffing my hands in my jeans pockets, and suddenly remembering why I had gone outside in the first place.

"My kind?"

"Girls."

"Oh," Selena's face relaxed as she realized what I was talking about. "So what's the dilemma?"

I huffed out all my frustration and threw my hands up. "You guys are so damn confusing!"

Selena seemed to find my dismay amusing. Yup. That's my friends for you. It took her awhile to calm down her laughing before she linked my arms and started walking down the block with me to who knows where. "Nick. Girls aren't confusing. You're just thinking too much into it."

"So if a girl randomly comes up to you and kisses you, then runs away, I'M the one who's thinking too much into it?"

Selena bit her lip a little unsure. "Okay. Well, maybe that is a little confusing, but you're probably just being confusing back."

"What does that even mean?"

"Have you been holding back on anything with this certain girl? Did you make your feelings confusing?"

I snorted. "Sel. You've known me since I was like 5. I'm pretty sure you know I'm not a guy who throws all my feelings out there for the world to see."

A bright smile spread on her face. "And that's exactly where the problem is starting."

We stopped at the local park and she took a seat on the swing sets that used to be one of our favorite hang- outs all through elementary. We would just all sit here and swing and swing until we got tired or our parents called us back. Those were the good old days. When no one cared what you did or what you said. No one was asked, What are you going to be when you grow up? Or how much you make per hour. Everyone was equal.

Selena took a seat on one of the swings and motioned for me to take the one next to her. "So tell me, what do you feel for this mystery girl?"

"I honestly don't know. I think I _like like_ her."

Selena chuckled and shook her head. "We're not in 3rd grade anymore, Nick. Like like in adult world basically means love. So you do love this girl?"

"I… um… Right."

"And you haven't told her."

"Right."

"Because you're too scared."

"Right."

"And you don't know if she feels the same way."

"Right."

"But she still kissed you, but ran away after, and that's why you're here talking to me right now."

"All of this would a big help, but you pretty much just stated everything I already knew. Thanks a lot," I mumbled sarcastically. Selena chuckled as she swung a little, her feet kicking in the air. I tried matching her stride, but Selena was just too good at this. Ever since we were kids. She was always one swing faster or higher.

"I don't know what to tell you, Nick."

I groaned and kicked my feet a little higher as the swing moved back. "You tell me so much advice when I don't need it, and the day I do ask for it, you have NOTHING to tell me? Honestly?"

"Sorry. I've got nothing… Well, nothing that you don't already know."

"Which is?"

Selena laughed and shook her head. We were both swinging so high now that I felt like there was no such thing as gravity anymore. Suddenly, she grabbed my swing and we both ended up flying into open space. I distinctly remember hitting the hard ground in a loud THUMP and then something else slamming into my head. I cursed and shuffled myself up only to find Selena laughing like a complete idiot.

"Why did you just do that? Are you drunk or something?"

Selena giggled into her palm. "To be honest, yes. I went clubbing with Taylor earlier, remember?"

"Oh right.. But did you seriously land on me?" I asked, rubbing my upper spine. Goddamn. How heavy could this girl be? It felt like a damn skyscraper had smashed into my back. "And stay off the burgers, Sel. I mean it."

She giggled like the drunk idiot she was and nodded. She dusted herself off and just sat next to me. "I miss this, don't you?" she asked, starting to sound less drunk and more rational; maybe even a hint of sadness.

"Yeah. We had so many good memories here."

"Do you realize how long it's been since we've done this?"

"Nearly killing me? No. But having swing jumps? It's been awhile. Though I do remember you always winning it."

Selena punched me lightly on the arm. "Why do you think I mentioned it?"

I punched her back and laughed. "Now this is what I miss. Just having you guys around."

Selena smiled and leaned her head on my shoulder. She had grown taller than the last time I had seen her, and I could smell the hint of strawberry shampoo radiating from her dark brown curls, the same color as mine. They always did tease us that we looked like brother and sister.

"Do you remember when we were 11, and we watched that movie at Joe's house that we weren't supposed to?"

"Because Joe's parents didn't let him watch any kiss scenes," I snickered, remembering how strict they were while raising him. "Who ever knew their son would still turn into a pervert anyway."

Selena laughed. "Do you remember after that… what we did..."

My laugh slowly faded away. I still remembered that day clearly. "We kissed under the slides, because we were curious about how it felt."

She laughed softly and nodded, her head still leaning on my shoulder. "You were my first kiss."

"You were mine too."

Without realizing what I was doing, I had turned around and pressed my lips towards Selena's. Her lips were soft under mine, but I didn't feel anything. Not like how it was with Miley. With Selena, it just felt like kissing. Nothing more than that. After a few short seconds, both of us pulled away. There was nothing exciting or passionate about it. I guess I only did it, because I wanted to feel something other than the frustration Miley had left. I wanted to prove to myself that she could be forgotten, that I could feel something else that powerful without her… But I was wrong. I tucked my knees closer and wiped my fingers across my lips. "I'm sorry, Selena. I shouldn't have done that. It was a mistake."

It took Selena awhile to answer as she sat there, just staring into space. Finally, she smiled sadly. "You know everyone in town used to always think we would end up together? Get married. Have kids. Grow old here."

I stayed silent, not really knowing what to say. Selena smiled sadly and kissed me on the cheek softly. "But a girl knows when a boy looks into their eyes and sees someone else. Whoever the girl is, she's lucky."

Selena stood up slowly, and wiped the sand off her jeans. She gave me one last look before walking away alone. What I never told anyone was that Selena Logan was the first girl I actually did lose my virginity too. I stayed with her all throughout high school, because I thought we were supposed to. It was more out of a feeling of duty; not love; never love.

After a few hours of just sitting there and staring at the empty swing set, I finally forced myself to stand up and walk away from the past that I wanted so badly to relive… But I knew I couldn't. The more I sat here and focused on what I had to be, I would be doing nothing for myself. Sighing, I stood up and dusted myself off from the sand that I had once called home for every Saturday afternoon.

It was time to stop living from the past, I told myself as I took a shaky step and began to move forward.

* * *

_**A/N: Sorry if it was kind of a boring chapter. I had some writer's block, but there are some major parts in this chapter that will heavily impact the rest of the story. I'm still deciding on what I'm going to do with this Nelena thing, and you're probably really curious on the closet thing from the beginning. It'll all explain in time. Hahaa. And I know your faces for this chapter were probably: FINALLY! NILEY KISS! ... Oh wait. She ran away. Never mind.. OMG! NELENA KISS! WTF? **_

_**Hahaa. Sorry if it's confusing, but I like to make you guys think. The next few chapters will get a little more scrambled up. Let me just tell you that Miley is just as confused about the kiss as Nick is. That's all I'm going to say. THANKS FOR READING! And the really long reviews for the last chapter! You have no idea how big I smiled when I saw over 14 reviews over- night; almost all of them like a page long. Hahaa. 3**_


	10. Day Nine

Clutching the silk sheets that were tangled all around me, I pulled myself out of bed against my own will, and finally began to wake up. My eyes opened slowly as if a million damn bricks were weighing them down. Suddenly, the memories of what happened on the couch I was currently lying in woke me up completely.

"Holy cr—OWWW." Being the idiot I was, I found myself rolling off the couch and onto the hard ground. I rubbed the side of my head, when I realized how loud I had been. I picked myself up and looked around the room, searching to see if Miley had witnessed another amazing example of my stupidity.

No one was there.

I wasn't exactly sure whether to take this as a good sign or a bad sign. Miley Stewart seemed to be disappearing constantly these past few days. To be honest, it kind of scared me. Knowing the fact that out of nowhere, she'll be gone from my life just like that. I wasn't ready to let her go. Not yet.

I rubbed my eyes from the left over grogginess and dragged myself to the kitchen counter where a bright orange post- it note was waiting. It didn't take awhile for me to recognize that curly girly hand- writing. _Over at Joe and Demi's. I left some breakfast in the microwave! Be back later.- Miley _Well, at least she didn't seem angry at me… Not that she should be… Well that is unless my kiss was that damn horrible, which I've been told has some pretty good skills. I was even labeled Best Kisser in the school polls. These lips definitely deserve an award.

A little disappointed that she wasn't here, I made my way towards the small black box at the corner of the kitchen and opened it to find a fresh omelet with a cup of yogurt. Holy damn. She sure knew how to cook. I didn't even know I had a damn microwave in this house, let alone an actual kitchen that WORKS. Maybe Miley Stewart did know more about my life than I did.

After eating, I went back into the living room and just sat down on the couch. I placed my head in my hands and just shook it. Why the hell did I have to kiss her? I could already feel the awkwardness stretching out from our relationship. Maybe she was grossed out? Maybe she was regretting it? My mind just refused to stop building up question after question.

From the side of my vision, I spotted the familiar frame of wood. I walked over and picked up the guitar, cradling it in my arms like a newborn baby. I remembered everything that Miley had said yesterday about pursuing my dream in music, but I shook my head knowing that it was only a fantasy. I mean, I was good, but not GOOD GOOD. Not good enough to even compare to the other artists on the song charts right now. (Though over half of them are purely computerized.)

I strummed a familiar lullaby that I surprisingly memorized by heart. The tune seemed to stretch out almost naturally. It was the one song I never forgot, except for the lyrics, of course. But the melody was always there, no matter what. After a few minutes of endless strumming, I put the guitar down and got ready for work. Knowing that Miley wasn't there to nag me about tucking in my shirt and all that attire stuff, I threw on whatever I laid my hands on first and went to that stupid garage that Old John managed to survive in for over 40 damn years in.

"What's with you? You look like you rolled out of a dumpster." The wrinkly old guy eyed me like I was an ugly piece of trash that annoyed him.

"Thanks," I mumbled sarcastically as I threw my things on the couch. I honestly was in no mood to hear him nag about my clothing right now. I already got enough from Miley every day. John glanced at me one more time before going back to work. The car he had been working on since pretty much forever was almost done, and the guy was as happy as a 6 year old with a lollipop. It was kind of creepy, if you ask me. All the old man does now is smile and remind me how it's almost finished, it's almost finished, it's almost finished!

Okay. Yes. It's almost finished. I get it.

Psh. I would tell him to just shut up and finish the damn thing instead of telling me, but I'm just too nice of a person to say that. And Miley says I'm rude. PSH. SERVES HER RIGHT.

"Where is Miley these days?" John asked as if hearing my thoughts about her. "I haven't seen her in a few days."

I kicked my legs up on the stool in front of me and shrugged, trying to act casual, like I didn't care. "Don't ask me."

Old John chuckled as if I were a big damn comedian cracking a joke. "You have to get over yourself, boy." He moved over to grab a measuring tape, and pushed my feet off the stool. I just placed them back on anyway. How dare he tell me to get over myself. Goddamn. People were so rude these days.

"I don't know what you're talking about," I crossed my arms in front of my chest, trying my best to look tough… which I did… of course.

John didn't seem fazed as he laughed again and threw a rag straight at my face. "Then let me tell you slowly, boy. Youuuuuuu….neeeeeeed…. toooooooo…. getttttt….. overrrr….yourself."

"I'm not retarded, John. I understand what you said."

"Then what don't you get?" he asked, his white caterpillar eyebrows crawling with curiosity.

"What makes you think I need to get over myself?"

Old John slapped his knee and nearly fell on the ground from all that damn laughter. His face had gone a deep shade of red, and I almost stood up to make sure he wasn't going to pass out on me. I didn't get why everyone kept laughing at every damn thing I said… even when I'm completely serious… I personally think this town is all on something. Just saying.

"I would tell you, boy, but we would be in this place for weeks," he finally managed to gasp out, as he clutched onto his beer belly for support. He was wiping tears from his eyes by now.

"Then tell me at least one!"

He paused, his intervals of laughs becoming less and less. "Firstly, you can't seem to get over the fact that you're not in high school anymore."

I opened my mouth to say something, to argue back with my famous Nick Grey comebacks, but nothing came out of my mouth. I didn't know what to say. Since when did I have nothing to say? Old John noticed the hesitation and sighed. "Listen, boy. You don't think I notice, but I see how you go around this town. You think you own the damn world. You still think you're the high and shining armor from high school. Well, here's the reality. No one gives a damn hell about what you want. YOU have to do that for yourself. No one comes around here holding golden platters for you to take. You've got no one except yourself."

Old John paused again. I wasn't sure if he was done or just out of breath. I really didn't think someone his age should be talking that much. It amazed me he didn't already pass out from all that laughter. I always did hear that Old John had lungs of steel since way back in high school. (YES. I know. Wrinkly old John was young at one point of his life! Who knew.) But then again, I also heard that Old John used to be a stripper in Queens, New York whom one day had a sex change and transferred to this hick of a town for undercover work from the FBI.

Yeah. I doubt that last one.

But who knows. The world is filled with crazy people these days.

Ew… ew… Old John with a pole just entered my mind. God no.

"And that's what I'm saying, boy." John threw his hands up, and I realized I hadn't heard a single thing he had said. Aw crap.

"Right."

"You didn't hear a single thing I said, huh?"

"Um…"

Old John sighed and hit me on the head with his dirty oil- stained rag. "This is what I'm talking about. You've got to get your act together."

"You don't even know me, John. You don't know what you're talking about."

"Do you even know you?"

Thoughts and pictures of Miley Stewart entered my mind. She knew me better than I did, I remembered, the memory of her listing everything she knew about me playing over in my head. She knew things about me that I never even went that deep to think about. "What kind of a question is that, John?" I dodged the question to the best of my ability, but John just sighed and hit me one last time with that stupid rag of his. What the hell is up with people hitting me in the head with painful objects?

"Just get to work, boy. Oh, and did I tell you about the car? It's almost finis—"

"It's almost finished! I GOT IT!" I snapped, not purposely wanting to say that. Old John looked a little hurt at first, but he managed to transform it into the usual blank and annoyed expression I was so used to seeing; maybe even the face he was so used to using. By now, it seemed almost natural on him. He didn't say anything else to me as he walked back to that car of his and cleaned up the inside a bit more. To be completely honest, I felt a bit of guilt and regret nagging at me from the base of my throat. I wanted to apologize, but I just had too much pride building up to even stand up and say something. You heard it here first. Nick Grey actually has a conscience.

By the time, I was done with work (which I don't even think I could call it work anymore. Probably because all I did was lounge around on that couch all day and just count until the numbers had gotten so big, I almost couldn't keep track of it anymore.) I walked over to the car John was now crouching over, busy with who knows what. His butt was kind of hanging out of his jeans, but it was too awkward to say anything. I just muffled a laugh and waved to show him I was leaving.

"I'm not going to finish in time," he mumbled, still bent over, and not realizing I was standing a few feet away from him.

"Finish in time for what?" I asked, suddenly curious.

Old John snapped up as he realized I was standing close enough to hear what he was saying to himself. Luckily, he pulled his pants up when he stood up awkwardly. He ran a pale and sickly hand through his almost non- existent hair and heaved a deep sigh that seemed to rattle from the base of his chest. The sigh sounded more exhausted that I had ever heard from him. Usually they were from frustration, which unsurprisingly came from me.

"In time for the town fair tomorrow," he answered. "It's the 200th anniversary of the town and they were having a car show. I wanted to get it in, but I don't see it happening."

I glanced at the shiny sleek car that had a name I would have to be reminded by Miley with later. It looked done enough for me, but to John, being the perfectionist he was, couldn't let it go like that. I wanted to know what made it so important to him, but I didn't think he would tell me anyway. All he ever talked to me about was A. What a pain in the butt as I was. B. How I did nothing. C. Confucious moral talks. D. And Lately, Miley and her damn overly- delicious cookies.

"Well, good luck," I sighed, not really knowing what else to do. John looked so glum as he sat there in his car that I couldn't even see him that way anymore. I only knew him as the annoying John, the sarcastic John, and the angry John. I never had to witness an actually HURT John. It was too weird. He didn't say anything except just go back to that car of his, and desperately tried to finish it.

Sighing and feeling absolutely useless, I picked up my jacket and just decided to go back home. Miley was probably home by now, and talking to her privately was the one thing I had been waiting all day for… Oh and a pizza, but you know.

* * *

I opened the door with my hopes up to get a real and actual talk with Miley, but of course, I found Demi, Joe, Taylor, and Selena all lounging around the floor and just picking around at my stuff. Joe was playing around with my ancient TV, trying to figure out how to open the old thing, while Selena and Demi just lay back on the couch eating a bag of chips and watching Joe struggle with a bunch of wires in his hands. Both looked like they had no intention at all in helping him. I finally spotted Miley talking with Taylor in the kitchen. Our bubbly little blonde seemed to be doing most of the talking, and I could tell from the way that Miley was biting her lip, she was desperately holding back a laugh. She nodded her head as if understanding, but we all know she didn't understand a single word Taylor was saying.

I walked over to the kitchen first, and no one even seemed to notice I had come in… Into my own apartment. Miley glanced over at me with relief in her eyes, and I guess what Taylor was talking about wasn't really as interesting as Miley would have wanted.

"…. Yeah. And that's why I don't put my finger in vacuum cleaners anymore! Trust me. If I was you, I would stop! It's a horrible habit!" Taylor explained, using exaggerated hand motions.

Miley nodded in confused agreement. "Right… Well, thanks for the tip." She had no idea in hell what she was talking about.

I smirked as I stepped up to Miley, breaking the conversation that definitely needed to be broken. She gave me a thank- filled smile as I stepped in. "Hi."

Taylor's wide white toothed smile spread across her face as she saw me. "NICK! You found us!"

"Um…"

Miley nudged me and leaned close to my ear. "Demi told her we were playing hide n seek to shut her up. She really doesn't stop asking a question, huh?"

I laughed and nodded. "All through elementary, middle school, AND high school. I'm used to it."

Miley chuckled under her breath, and Taylor just stood there smiling. "So, Taylor. I think Selena and Demi wanted to tell you something."

"Ohkay!" Taylor flashed us one more wide grin before skipping over to Demi and Selena who seemed to just be happily lounging around. The two were dropping chips and trash all over the floor. It really amazed me that Miss. Miley Clean- Freak Stewart didn't run over there and pick everything up. Finally, I turned towards the auburn haired creature standing next to me awkwardly.

"So… hi."

Miley crossed her arms over her chest tensely and exhaled. "Hi."

"So I'm guessing they either barged in here or you invited them."

Miley bit her lip. "Half- half in a way. I invited Demi and Joe over for lunch and the whole group kind of came instead."

"Why did you invite Demi and Joe over?"

She shrugged, her arms still crossed over her chest. "I don't know. I didn't want to be alone in the apartment."

Or she didn't want to be alone with me.

Grumbling, I managed to get enough nerve to speak up. "Um, listen Miley… I think we should talk about last night…"

Miley walked over to the sink to drop off a plate that had been left on the counter. She didn't look at me, but instead focused on that damp plate she was washing as if it were some hard math problem. "What about last night?"

God. She was going to make this so much more complicated that it needs to be. "You know what I'm talking about."

Miley's hands paused for a second as she scrubbed the plate vigorously. She looked like she wanted to kill the damn thing. "Oh… that."

I sighed, and shuffled from foot to foot nervously. "Well, I just want to know what it meant…"

Miley, still scrubbing that plate like it was a insect she needed to kill, opened her mouth… then closed it, then opened it, then closed it… "I um, don't know." She quickened her scrubbing on the plate that was probably already clean enough.

"Oh…" I said, letting the word ohhhhhh drone out, because I just wanted something to fill in the awkward silence. "Did you mean to…. youknow?"

"Kiss you?" Miley finally answered matter-of-factly. "Maybe."

"Right. That." I rubbed the back of my neck almost as hard as Miley was attacking that stupid plate. "Well, did you regret it?"

There. Finally. The one question that had been haunting ever since she fled into my room. I held my breath afraid of the answer to my own question. What if she did regret it? What if I was just a horrible kisser? What if she really didn't mean to kiss me? WHAT IF SHE JUST WANTED TO SQUISH A BUG… ON MY LIPS?

Calm down, Nick. Don't lose your cool. I literally had to force myself to breath as I waited for her answer. She seemed to be in a battle with herself as she searched for an answer. "I'm not sure. Do you regret it?"

I ruffled my curls awkwardly. "I'm not sure…"

Miley continued scrubbing the plate, refusing to look at me straight in the eye. I was relieved though. I knew if I stared back into that sea of gray, I wouldn't have been able to do this. She just had that effect of me, no matter what the circumstance was. I could be the highest point of anger and she could calm me from just one look.

"Miley, I change my answer." I stopped her, as I lay my hand gently on the base of her arm. She seemed surprised as she looked up at me with eyes that seemed to stare straight through me. They were filled with curiosity, fear, and a swirl of other emotions I couldn't even read. I stared at those deep gray orbs and managed to keep hold on enough strength to answer. "I don't regret a thing."

Miley kept her gaze steady on me, a small smile building on her lips. I knew what I had to do then. I leaned forward and closed my eyes, anticipating every move and breath she took.

"GUYSSS! WHAT ARE YOU TWO WHISPERING ABOUT OVER THERE?" Joe called out, breaking the moment. Dammit. Please remind me to kill that boy. "Oh and Nick. How the hell do you work this thing. It is a TV right?"

I pulled away from Miley, and she was still standing there, her eyes fluttering open as if she had just woken up from a dream. She looked straight at me for a few moments, and I honestly fell the room stop to a halt. I wanted to say something, or to even just lean over and kiss her again, but none of us made a move.

"NICK! I asked you a question, buddy!"

Cursing under my breath, I turned around to look at the dark haired boy and gritted my teeth. "You press the ON button Joe."

"But I've been doing that, and nothing works."

"Not my problem."

Joe whined like a 6 year old. "But it's your TV! And I want to watch ESPN."

Demi groaned and pulled herself off the couch. "Joseph. Just let me do this." I watched as Demi and Joe both tried to figure out how to turn on the stupid box. I grumbled to myself and turned around to see Miley still standing there frozen.

"So what did the plate do?" I finally asked, watching her turn back around and continuously scrub the plate like a mad man. She flashed me a confused look and I nudged towards her scrubbing attack on the poor piece of china.

She blushed, but didn't stop scrubbing. "I like to clean when I'm nervous. It calms my nerves."

I moved closer again, not caring if everyone was just a few feet away from us. "So you're nervous?"

She scrubbed harder. "Obviously."

I chuckled, sort of relieved to hear the same old sarcastically harsh Miley Stewart I had met on the first day. "About what?"

Suddenly the plate in her hands cracked between her fingers and fell into shattered pieces into the sink. "Wow. You must have been really nervous," I smirked, as I watched her try to clean up the mess hastily. I was amused until I saw the small sight of crimson on her finger. I gently took her hand and examined the small cut closer. It wasn't going to kill her, but it was still flowing blood.

"Come with me. There's a first aid kit in the bedroom."

Without letting her argue her stubborn head off, I pulled her into the room before she could say anything else. She sat on the bed quietly and waited for me to get the first aid kit. Lamely, I came back with a box of tissues and tape. "I kind of lost my first aid kit."

Surprisingly, Miley laughed and just the mere sound of it made me smile. I sat down next to her and wrapped the packs of tissue around the cut on her finger. I could see her cringe from the pressure, but she just bit her lip and took in the pain. I wrapped tape around it until it managed to stick on. Just before she pulled her finger away, I brought it to my lips and kissed it softly. She didn't say anything as she brought her finger back, but she didn't have to.

I looked around at the now clean room, (Thanks to Miley) and finally realized that we were alone. We were finally alone. I twisted my body so I was facing her."About last night… Why did you run away?" I asked her slowly, not sure how to phrase out my words. "I just want to know that."

"I… I was scared," she managed to mumble out. She clenched her hands in fists, not able to look at me. I brought my finger under her chin and forced her to meet my confused eyes.

"Of what?"

"Of falling for you," she managed to whisper out.

I felt my body freeze up, and that familiar surge of energy that only came when I was with Miley came flooding me from head to toe. "Why would you be scared of that?"

She tried to look down at her hands, but I kept a steady hand on her, making her look me straight in the eye. I felt all my defenses melt just from looking at her. "Because I don't know who I am, Nick. I don't know where I'm going or what I love to do or what my favorite food is. How am I supposed to know how to love you, when I don't even know who I am?"

"You hit your head, Miley. Not your heart." I took a deep breath and felt my heart shiver in my chest, if that was even possible.

"That doesn't take away the fear."

I moved closer, looking her straight in the eye. "I'm scared too, you know."

"About what?"

I felt my own lips twist into a sad smile. "About this. All of this… You."

A small smirk embedded itself onto her perfect lips. "You're scared of me?"

"I'm scared of losing you…" Miley's eyes flooded with confusion as she looked at me with such intensity, I was tempted to cower away. "You can remember who you are at any moment. You can leave whenever you want to. I can't. This is where my life is. You have the rest of the world in your hands. I can just tell from looking at you. The minute you remember everything, I'm scared that you'll walk out of that door, and you'll be gone just like that. I'm scared to love you, because this was all supposed to be temporary… But it's turning into so much more than that, isn't it?"

Miley Stewart's lips morphed into a sad, sad smile and nodded. "So what does this mean?"

I sighed and met her soft eyes. "It means that I… I want to give us a try. I don't want to be scared anymore."

She smiled a bright beautiful smile that made my heart stop, and nodded again. "Me neither." I interlaced my hands with her own small ones, and everything just felt so, so right that I had to push back an urge to get down on my knees and thank God for giving me this moment. But instead, I found myself leaning forward once again, and hovering my lips right above Miley's. She seemed to be holding her breath just as much as I was. Her eyes were wide open as I leaned forward, almost as if she wanted to see every detail of every moment. I could tell she was studying me intently, just as much as I was studying her; everything about her. Just as she leaned forward just a little more to meet her lips with mine, I pulled back. "Just wait a quick second."

I ran out of the room quickly, and found Joe sitting next to the TV still trying to figure out how it worked. His eyes widened as he saw me approaching him. "Hey, man. This TV is really—"

"Get up."

"What?"

"Get up!"

Joe got on his feet confused, but I just grabbed his arm and walked him outside the apartment. He was standing on my front doorstep, giving me an insane look. "Just wait here for a few minutes." I shut the door and locked it, wiping my hands together knowing I got the job done. Demi, Selena, and Taylor were all flashing me confused looks, but I didn't have time for this.

"Stay exactly where you are," I told them sternly. They sat there just staring me, looking like they were really too scared to move. I sent them a thumbs up before running back to the room where Miley was still waiting, sitting there with her eyebrows knitted together in confusion.

"Nick, what are—"

I stopped her by pressing my lips to hers. Her confusion seemed to disappear as she answered back just as intensely. The sweet taste of vanilla was fresh on my lips, and I felt her tongue lingering at the base of my lips, begging for entrance. I pulled her closer, and felt bliss wash over me as her tongue met mine. Her hands were wrapped up in my hair, tugging me closer, and I had both of my hands cupping the sides of her face. She felt so fragile that I thought if I made the wrong move, I could break her. We stumbled forward, her legs now wrapped around my waist as she kissed me again. We pulled away for a few second to breath, but even in those small pauses, we would be looking straight at each other.

I trailed a line of butterfly kisses down her jaw and neck, and she just wrapped her arms around me until I felt like there was nothing in the world small and thin enough to pass through us. Her heart beat was pressed right against mine, and I knew her heart was beating just as fast as mine was. She clung onto my desperately as I met her lips again. She responded instantly as her lips moved over mine hungrily. I bit on her bottom lip and she seemed to have melted in my arms. Her legs were still wrapped around my waist, and I kept a steady hold on the base of her back, making sure she would never fall.

Finally, after what felt like eternity, I found myself pulling away. Her eyes were still shut as I stared at her in complete awe. Her hair was a tangled mess of exotic beauty, framing her face like a wild and beautiful animal. I pushed her hair away from her face, and kissed her again, so softly and slowly that it was almost felt like torture. "You're so beautiful."

Her eyes fluttered open and stared at me with a small smile playing on her lips. I smiled back at her and kissed her again, as if I couldn't get enough of her. Which was pretty much true. I still couldn't believe she was mine. Her legs still wrapped around me, I leaned over on the bed and let her untangle her arms and legs from me. She fell back never looking so damn perfect.

The minute she let go, I just grabbed for her again, and held her. No kissing, but I just held her there, giving no sign of letting go as we both took the pause to catch our breath. Finally, I pulled away and looked at her. "You're still here."

A simple and breath- taking laugh escaped her lips. "I'm not going anywhere, Nick." I kissed her quickly, and she just laughed again. "And look who's talking. Why did you run out of the room?"

"To kick Joe out."

Miley Stewart raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"I didn't want any interruptions."

Miley laughed as she slowly remembered all of Joe's bad timing skills. "Good idea." She looked at our laced hands and smiled. "Do you want to go back outside? It's freezing outside, and I feel kind of bad for Joe."

I grumbled to myself. "Fine, fine. Let's go… But one more thing."

She smiled, "What—" I leaned forward and kissed her again before she could say anything. I couldn't get enough of it. She was like a drug I wanted to have with me everywhere I went. "Oh. That," Miley smiled, as I pulled back. Finally, I opened the door and walked out to see Demi and Selena watching the TV that I'm guessing they finally managed to turn on. Taylor was standing with one foot up and one foot down. Only God knows why.

I chuckled noticing that Joe still wasn't in the room, but I could hear him shouting for someone to send him back in. "No one let Joe back in?"

Demi threw her hands up, shushing me as her favorite show came on. Now that's love, alright, I laughed amused. I walked over to the door, and opened it to find a shivering Joe with a death stare. "What the hell, man! I was going to have to cut my toes off in this weather!" I looked down and noticed he didn't have any shoes on.

"Sorry. I had some things to do," I smirked, glancing over at Miley, who was not trying to talk to Taylor.

"Sorry my butt, man! Whatever the hell you had to do, I hope it was worth losing my toes over!" Joe grumbled frustrated as he limped back in, hugging his arms together for warmth.

I thought about the kiss that was still fresh on my lips and smirked. "It was worth it, Joe. It was definitely worth it."

Probably seeing the goofy love- struck smile on my face, he slapped me and sighed. "Okay. Now it's worth it." As I rubbed the side of my cheek, Joe walked over to Demi and I watched as she wrapped her blanket around him.

I was still rubbing the side of my face when I turned back around. Damn. Even when I tell Miley how I felt, I'm still getting hit in the head. Something was definitely wrong with this world. Grumbling a few hand full of creative curse words, I walked over to Miley who seemed to be trying to talk to a frozen Taylor. She seemed relieved as she finally saw me. "Nick. Taylor won't move."

I glanced over at the blonde, but her eyes were stared straight ahead in concentration. She was still standing on one foot as if about to step forward. "What the hell are you doing, Taylor?"

Taylor glanced at me for a second and whispered, "You told us to stay where we were. I told Demi and Selena to listen, but they just kept moving!"

"It's fine, Tay. I was just kidding. You can move now if you want."

"Really?"

I smirked and forced her leg down, so both feet were now planted on the floor. "Really, Taylor."

She sighed. "Phewww. I was starting to get a cramp."

I shook my head, though a small smirk was forming on my lips. "What about we go out and get some dinner? I'm starving, and I don't feel like cooking for all your fat butts."

Demi, Joe, and Selena's heads all snapped towards us as they screamed the same word. "PIZZA!"

* * *

I was half- way through my pizza when I heard screams and shouts from behind us. I turned around to see two short girls around our age running towards us full speed. They looked so damn familiar, and they obviously knew us as they ran over and said hi.

"Oh my god! The whole gang's here! This is so cool!" the short dirty blonde girl squealed in disgusting delight. I was about to open my mouth and say something sarcastic, but Miley nudged me in the ribs and I ended up choking on my pizza instead. She broke out laughing, and the girls' heads snapped towards me with stars in their damn eyes.

"NICK!" they screamed, running over to me and giving me those small flirty hugs. I felt like I was back in middle school where all girls seemed to live off these damn hugs. "Wow. I can't believe you're all here! I remember your winning touchdown at the homecoming game. That was amazing!"

I took a sip of my straw. "That was also 5 years ago…. I'm sorry but do I know-"

Selena's voice stopped me. "Joanna and Patty. We haven't seen you guys in forever!" She flashed me a _Watch it_ look, but I almost gagged from the sounds of those names. Let's just say that with every popular group of guys, they always had that annoying gang of groupies. Well, Joanna and Patty were ours. They would follow us everywhere, and it wasn't even coincidental stuff. It was pretty much stalker status. Hell, one even tried to kiss me once. She just kind of jumped on me. If it weren't for Joe's quick reflexes, I might have actually had to kiss her.

Okay. I know I sound harsh, but you've never even met these two. They're pure crazy. They were one of the aspects of graduating high school that actually made me happy. The day they bragged to everyone about moving up to New York to go to NYU, I basically threw a party at my house. No joke.

"So how are you?" Demi asked politely. Joe was chuckling under his breath from just the sight of these two, and I was pretty much just sipping my straw quietly, hoping they'd go away eventually.

"We're good!" they answered at the same time. Oh yeah. One more thing. Even though these two looked nothing alike, they were more twin- like than freaking Mary Kate and Ashley Olson. "We just got jobs at the same talent agency!"

"Wow. You guys are actually still friends…"

They smiled and just took it as a compliment. "Always!"

Taylor opened her mouth and just had to say, "Why don't you guys pull out a chair and sit with us!"

"NO NO NO NOOOOO!" I accidentally burst out. All of them sat there, staring at me with wide eyes. "I mean, um… you guys are probably want some privacy to talk to yourselves and all."

Joanne and Patty shook their heads enthusiastically. "Oh no! The reason we're all here is to catch up anyway right? I'm so excited for the reunion." They grabbed two of the nearest chairs and brought it next to us. Patty took the seat right next to me, of course. I scooted away to the best of my ability. Miley seemed somewhat amused by this as she let out a burst of laughter.

"What reunion?" Miley managed to ask, her gaze immediately glancing at me as if wondering why I had never told her.

"It's just this thing where everyone from high school gets together and gets wasted one more time before they go back to their big- shot lives," I smirked, winking at Miley. I had meant it as a joke (well kind of), but Patty and Joanne obviously didn't find the amusing part of it. Their jaws pretty much slammed into the floor the minute the words flowed from my mouth. "I'm kidding…"

The two girls breathed out sighs of relief as if I had just saved them from falling off a damn cliff. They were even worse than Taylor, I thought to myself. At least Taylor was funny on purpose at times. These girls were annoying, and annoying, and annoying. Finally, Miley let out another laugh, as if finally getting the joke.

Patty's dark brown eyes looked straight at her. "I'm sorry, but who are you?" Her eyes still had that annoying enthusiasm, but as she noticed how close I was sitting next to her, they got a little angry.

"I'm Miley," she smiled, biting her lip from laughing out loud. I told you these girls were funny looking.

"Are you from around town?"

Miley shook her head, and glanced at me, almost as if asking how much information she could give away."I'm from New York…"

Patty raised an eyebrow and scooted her chair closer to me. God. Her arm grazed my arm. I think I just threw up in my mouth. "Weird. You look so familiar. Maybe we know each other from New York."

Miley smirked and picked up a fry before popping it in her mouth. "Yeah… I don't think so."

I accidentally burst out laughing, and I felt the urge to turn around and give Miley a huge high- five. She damn hell deserved it. Patty didn't seem to notice the sarcasm in Miley's voice, so instead she just turned around and focused her attention back to me. "Sooooo Nick," she coo'ed, her high voice ringing through my ears. "Want to share a smoothie with me? Too bad we only have one straw," she tried to sound seductive as she moved her chair even closer.

Ew. That's it.

I stood up so quickly that I almost toppled the whole table over to its side. Well, Patty sure fell over. That's for sure. My chair must have knocked hers to the side when I pulled away. She was busy trying to stand up and act like she was completely fine. Feeling a small sense of guilt wash over me, I apologized quickly before walking out and motioning for the rest of them to follow me.

Miley seemed to have gotten the message loud and clear as she pushed herself out of her chair and dropped her half- eaten pizza on her plate. "Well, it was really nice meeting you guys. I guess I'll see you guys la—Um, never mind. Bye."

Demi, Joe, and Selena flashed them small smiles before walking out. Taylor was just sitting there, smiling like she had no idea what in the hell what was happening. Yes. That's our Taylor for you. You have no idea what's going on, so what do you do? Just sit and smile and look pretty.

"Taylor! C'mon! We're going," Demi groaned as she tried to pull the blonde out of her chair. Taylor's eyes finally snapped with realization.

"But I didn't even finish my pizza!"

"Taylor. You don't even like pizza."

"Oh yeah," she sighed with a smile as she finally stood up.

Miley laughed and nudged Taylor as we were walking out of the restaurant. "How can you hate pizza?"

Taylor shrugged towards the question. "I don't hate it. I'm just a vegetarian."

"Taylor… You do know that not all pizza has meat."

Taylor tilted her head to the side, as if staring at an unsolvable math problem. "And your point is?"

Miley opened her mouth, then just closed it again, knowing that there wasn't a point to argue with Taylor's reasoning. Demi smirked as she saw the whole thing unfold and patted Miley on the back. "You're learning our ways, Miles. Good job."

Miley laughed and stuffed her hands in her jacket pockets. All I wanted to do right now was walk over to her, and hold her hands, warming them for her, but I was too afraid to. At least not in front of Joe, Demi, Selena, and Taylor…. Or more specifically, just Selena. The accidental kiss from yesterday was still worrying me, and it still nagged at me that she hadn't spoken to me all day. I mean, she still looked like the regular, polite, and happy Selena Logan I knew and grew up with, but that's all. I could only look. She hadn't talked to me since that night at the park. Not that I really wanted to talk about, because honestly, there was nothing to talk about. We made it pretty clear. It was a mistake… but that didn't make it any less awkward if I start being all lovey dovey with Miley in front of her.

As much as I wanted to.

"Nick!" Miley called out, breaking my wandering train of thoughts; or more specifically worries. I looked up to see her a little ahead of everyone else, and she was smiling at a small colored flyer that had been taped onto a lamp post. The only words I could understand from the neon colored paper were FESTIVAL… FOOD… GAMES… MUSIC… PERFORMANCE…

"What about it?" I asked confused. Joe stepped forward, holding Demi's hands as they both squinted at the poster.

"YES! They're serving Tom's Chili Dogs! BOOYAH!" Joe high- fived Demi.

"No. This," Miley pointed again to the words where the big bold letters were placed next to a picture of a microphone. "You can perform, Nick! The grand prize is $500 too."

Joe looked over to me and smirked. "Perform? This kid hasn't played since high school."

Miley walked over to me and put her hand on my arm. "That's not true. He played for me last night."

"It was nothing." I felt my face burn up, and I knew my face was blushing like a stupid doll.

"You should perform, Nick. I know you want to. You're talented. You just have to have the courage to show people that."

I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing would come out.

"I'll pay to see the great Nick Grey sing any day," Joe grinned, giving me a hard slap in the back.

"You should do it, Nick. I haven't heard you play in years."

"Yeah. You had an amazing voice."

"Oooo! Can I be your back- up dancer?"

You can guess who that came from. I sighed and ran a hand through my short curls. "I don't even know what song to play."

"Play that song from that TV show!" Taylor squealed, already excited from the thought of seeing me perform again.

"That was specific," Demi smirked as she linked arms with the bubbly blonde. I laughed at their excitement. I had always sung back in high school, but it was never anything serious. It was all pretty much just messing around with the guitar. I always knew they loved hearing me sing, but with these people, I never really knew when they were being sarcastic or being real. I wanted to sing, Miley confirmed that, but I just didn't know what to sing.

"Or you can use one of the old songs you used to write," Selena chimed in, her voice finally filling into the conversation. My brown eyes flickered towards her own, and I knew she was hurting. One of the songs I had written back then was about her, but it wasn't exactly a love song either. I definitely wasn't going to sing that one, but her idea was still a pretty good one. I had an old song book somewhere around the apartment filled with old songs I had written back in high school, but never had the chance to even perform.

Now if I only knew where the hell I put that stupid thing.

"It's tomorrow, so you have to come in early and sign up."

I shrugged my shoulders and rubbed the back of my neck again. "I'm not sure if I even want to do this," I lied.

"Think about it over night. You have until morning," Miley smiled as she started walking down the street again. We were walking on the route back home when Joe's voice broke out from the silence.

"Hey! Isn't that Liam Powers? Wow. He's still in town. Who would've known." Demi and Selena craned their necks over to get a better look at the blonde as he stood on the opposite street corner with two other guys, all dressed in a night black.

I felt my throat close up as Liam's eyes slowly met mine. The other two guys, who I recognized to have been part of the gang that had hurt Miley on that first day, both glanced towards our direction too. For a few minutes, it just felt like time had frozen; both groups just standing across from each other and staring, but not talking. Finally, Miley's sweet voice broke through the silence.

"Who's Liam Powers?" she asked, completely oblivious to the situation. Almost as if actually hearing her voice from across the street, Liam's forest green eyes flickered towards Miley with a predator- like expression filling his face. Instinctively, I found myself wrapping a secure arm around Miley's waist, pulling her closer to me, despite the fact that Selena and the rest of the group was right next to. I wasn't going to let her out of my sight.

"No one. He's no one," I answered, in a soft whisper, pulling Miley even closer. I could tell Miley could sense the fear in my voice, but she said nothing as she just let me hold her. Breaking the stiff tension, Liam whispered something to the other two guys, before fleeing down the other street until they were nothing but receding smudges of black in the background. Even seconds after we lost complete sight of them, I still found myself clutching onto Miley.

"That was weird," Joe finally sighed, as he gave me a worried glance. "You'd think he'd remember you. Weren't you guys best friends?"

I could feel everyone's stares, including Miley's lingering on me, but I refused to look back at them, knowing that I would only break down. "_Were_, Joe. I don't know him anymore."

By the time we got back to my apartment, it was only me and Miley. Demi and Joe got too lazy to walk back to their hotel, so they had called a cab and left half- way through the walk. Taylor ended up wanting a cone of ice cream from one of the stores back in town, and Selena had agreed to go with her. You can never trust Taylor alone in a town like this.

By the time all of them had left, I managed to finally reach out and grab Miley's hand. She didn't say anything until we got home. "So are you going to do it?" For a second, I thought she was referring to something about the awkward encounter with Liam, but I found her eyes trailing towards the guitar resting on the wall.

"Oh. The performance… I don't know. I'll think about it."

She smiled and stepped forward, closer to me. "I hope you choose yes."

"I've figured that part out," I smirked, stepping one step closer to her. "I'll sleep on it, and I'll tell you in the morning."

She pouted her lips in a way that made my heart melt. All I wanted to do at that moment was to accept completely and do whatever she wanted me to do, but instead I found myself leaning forward and kissing her. The moment our lips met, that same spark that came with every past kiss was still there as if waiting for this moment all night. The kiss was slow and soft, much different to the one earlier today. This time, it felt as if we were going so slow, we wanted to take every inch of each other in. Her lips felt so soft under mine that it took every will in my body not to take anything further. Finally, as we pulled away, both dazed, I caressed the side of her face as gently as I could.

"Good night, Nick Grey," Miley smiled softly as she kissed the side of my palm that was still resting on her cheek.

"Good night." I felt my own lips twist into a smile as I kissed her one more time. Miley laughed as I finally pulled back.

"What's with the hurry?" she asked, raising a teasing eyebrow. "I thought you said none of us were going anywhere."

I felt myself sigh in relief from just hearing the words come out from her mouth. It was amazing how she never even had the slightest clue on her effect on me. I was basically cowering away a few minutes ago with Liam, and now, standing here with Miley, it was the farthest thing from my mind. Finally, I pulled away to let her get her sleep. "Good luck with the song," she grinned before slipping back into my room.

I sighed and took in everything that had just happened today. Instantly, I ran out of the living room and stumbled outside in the cold night air. I opened my mouth and screamed my lungs out of pure joy. Despite the cold, I threw my hands up in the air and just dropped in the cool grass outside the front lawn. I didn't care if it was below 0 degrees outside. I had her. I finally had her, and nothing could ruin that. Nothing.

Finally, after my little self- party outside, I walked back in, not the least affected by the cold weather I had just ran through. I picked up the guitar on the opposite side of the room, and began to strum. "What am I going to do," I sighed to myself, finally realizing that in a few hours, I would have to perform in front of the whole town. Although I had never given Miley a straight forward answer of yes, she and I both knew that it would turn out that way anyway. I would run around the world naked if she asked me to, let alone sing in front of a stage. And to be completely honest, there was a small part of me that actually wanted to sing. Music used to be my whole life, until I lost the inspiration to a few years ago.

It was then that I realized I didn't need that old song book to look through for tomorrow. I had my own songbook already completely memorized in my head and in my chest. I grabbed a piece of paper, a pencil, my guitar, and every memory of every precious moment I had even had the luck to live through and found myself beginning to write a song.

It didn't take too far into writing the song that I realized every word of every line was about_ her_.

Miley Ray Stewart.

* * *

_**A/N: I know it was a long chapter. That either a good thing or a bad thing depending on the reader. Hahaa. Well, Niley is here! WOO. Finally.**_

_**Expect a lot of fluff in the next few chapters. I hope the 9 'days' of waiting was worth it. And the next chapter will include the town's 200th anniversary fair! So a lot of new things will be coming along.**_

_**THANK YOU FOR ALL THE REVIEWS! I love reading them all. Feedback from my stories is what keeps me writing in the first place. Sorry it took awhile for me to upload this, but there's been school and a whole bunch of other stuff. I hope you're enjoying it so far. 3**_


	11. Day Ten

Let's just say that I've never seen the town as excited as this. It's like someone just threw open a switch that went from BoringHellHoleOfATown to actually something interesting. Banners and balloons and other party decorations that I have no idea how this damn town managed to pay for, lined up the people- filled streets of old Samson, New Jersey. There were probably more people out on the street that I've met in my entire lifetime. I literally had to push and shove my way through the crowd and the actual festival wasn't starting for another several hours.

I felt a soft hand squeeze mine as we pushed our way through the crowd, and I looked down to see Miley Stewart smiling at me with that goddamn beautiful smile of hers. It might have been way too early for me, but she looked like she had spent hours to get ready. She looked ready for absolutely anything.

"What are you looking at?" Miley asked, suddenly noticing my lingering stare. A small curious smirk was dancing on her lips as she looked up at me with a raised eyebrow. I was so tempted to lean down and kiss her at that moment, but instead, I managed to just smile.

"You," I smiled, leaning forward to kiss her forehead. Her cheeks blushed a slight rose as we kept walking down the streets, hand in hand, and showing no sign of letting go. I could tell people were staring at us. I mean, I wasn't exactly a stranger in this town. I was the town's damn hero in high school. Everyone thought I was some huge freaking big- shot who would bring this town pride and glory and all that other BS. Well, obviously, they were wrong. Who would have ever known that the great Nick Grey would end up living by himself in a beat up old apartment with a job that paid as much as working in a freaking sewer?

"There it is!" Miley let go of my hand and ran towards the small table set up at the corner of the street. It was overly decorated in neon colored posters, and stickers covered every inch of the table. What were we? Kindergartners?

I walked towards the table, following Miley as she was talking quickly to the girl who ran the table. I honestly think Miley was more excited about this performance than I was. By the time I reached them, Miley had already written my name down on the sign up form. I instantly recognized the woman at the table talking to Miley as my old Music teacher from elementary and middle school. This town was just too small.

"Nicholas?" the graying- haired woman asked as she studied me. I waved awkwardly, because honestly, I haven't spoken to her in almost 10 years. She was always one of my favorite teachers. She was the kind of teacher that would let you go with pretty much anything, but keep everyone on track at the same time. She actually made school livable for me back in the day. I thought about visiting her once when I graduated high school, but I pretty much got wasted that night and completely forgot.

"Ms. Hart. Hi," I managed to smile. She looked exactly the same as I remembered her, except with a few more wrinkles here and there, and her once mousy brown hair becoming more gray. Her kind hazel eyes were still as I remembered them. She was just one of those people that you could tell were nice from just one simple look.

"It's been awhile! How are you? Please tell me you're signing up for today's performance," she smiled, clapping her hands together in anticipation.

"Yeah. I am signing up. I thought I might as well give it a try, you know?"

Ms. Hart's gaze finally seemed to land on Miley. Her smile grew just a bit wider. "How rude of me. I'm Ms. Hart, Nick's old music teacher. And you are?"

Miley held out a hand and shook with Ms. Hart. Who the hell shakes hands now? Oh yeah. Miley Stewart does. "I'm Miley," she smiled. "So you've known Nick since…?"

"Elementary," my old teacher smiled. "This one was a heart- breaker, and he didn't even know it."

I felt Miley nudging me in my side. "Oh really?" she smirked. My face was pretty much burning up as I just shrugged my shoulders casually.

"I remember this one day where Nick had promised to walk THREE girls home that day in 5th grade. I was the one who caught them pulling each other's hair out to see who could walk with him. It was a mess," she laughed as the memory slowly rolled back to her. "And the best part was that Nicholas forgot all about those girls. I think he ended up walking home with Joseph Locke that day."

"Ouch. Barely hit puberty, and you're already standing girls up?" Miley teased, nudging her hip with mine. I could barely remember that day. I do remember that I only asked those girls, because Joe made a bet with me on who could ask out the most girls who'd say yes. I won, of course, but I didn't know you actually had to carry the bet out. Woops.

Let's just say that those three girls wouldn't talk to me for awhile.

"Well, we have to go," I mumbled quickly, pulling MIley away from the table. "It was nice seeing you again, Ms. Hart."

She smiled and waved us goodbye. "I can't wait to hear you tonight, Nicholas." By the time we were a few blocks away, we met up with Joe and Demi and a million shopping bags. Of course, Joe was left to carry every single one. Well, at least Demi was holding Joe's water bottle. That had to count for something, right?

"What did you guys do? Buy out the whole town?" I smirked as I helped Joe with a bag that was slipping out of his hands. "I didn't even think there was this much stuff available to buy in this place."

Demi wiped her hands together as if she had just done all the carrying. "It's not all ours. Half of these are Taylor's." Curious to see what type of stuff Taylor would buy, I leaned forward and took a peek into the shopping bag I was holding. I grabbed the first thing in the bag and found myself staring at a statue of a cat.

"What the hell is Taylor going to do with this?" I asked, studying the small statue. To be honest, it was kind of creeping me out. I placed the cat back in the bag and tried not to touch the other animal statues wrapped in bubble wrap next to it. From what I could tell there was also a dog, a frog, an ostrich, and a unicorn. Even Miley was raising an eyebrow.

Demi took a sip from her water bottle and shrugged. "She said something about allergies, so she got these instead of pets. Don't ask me. None of us can understand how that girl's mind works."

I laughed and watched as Joe put all the bags down. He looked absolutely exhausted, not to mention that he was basically flashing me the HELP MEEEE look behind Demi's back. I shrugged in reply, not knowing what I could do to help him. I sure as hell wasn't going to carry anymore of these bags. Joe's helpless stares suddenly morphed to death stares as Demi urged him back down the street so they can go look for something to eat. "I'll see you later, Nick. Can't wait to see your performance!" Demi called out, before running into a store with a bright red SALE sign posted at the front door. Yup. There's the Demi I know.

I suddenly realized that Miley was missing. I glanced at the street corners, but she wasn't anywhere on the sidewalk at all. I felt panic rise in my throat, but I tried my best to calm down before I overreacted over nothing. I walked past stores that were near where we were standing, but she wasn't there either. Before I knew it, I was standing right under Old John's Car Repairs. The place was supposed to be closed today for the festival, but I could distinctly see the side door wide open.

Curiously, I crept up to the open door and took a peek inside. I saw a flash of auburn hair pass through my vision, and I knew Miley was here. I walked in and found her and Old John under that old car of his that he had been trying to fix up since forever. How long had she managed to slip out? She already looked like she was busy working on the damn thing for hours. Oil stains trailed up and down her arms, she had borrowed one of the navy jumpsuits to protect her clothing, and she was holding about a thousand tools that I didn't even know the names of. John was doing some work on the inside, and I could tell he was working as fast as he old wrangled body could allow him.

"Nick!" Miley's smile grew about 5 times as she saw me approaching cautiously. "Great. You're here. Can you hand me that wrench?"

I picked up the wrench in the toolbox next to me and handed it to her. "What's going on?"

"I came in here to say hi to John really quickly, and he was working on this. He said something about wanting to finish it before the festival tonight. Something about Beth wanting this."

"Who's Beth?" I asked, trying to think if I knew anyone with that name. Nothing came up.

Miley didn't seem to know either as she shrugged and glanced back at John. "I don't know, but she said I remind him of her; something about her spirit and personality."

I glanced back at Old John, and I knew that Beth, whoever she was, was the reason he was so desperate to get it done. The fact that the old guy actually had a heart like everyone else was still pretty new to me, but I could tell from the same determined look in Miley's face that she had known it all along. "We should get home…"

Miley shook her head sternly. "I can't go now. John needs me. He can't finish the car by himself, and we do need an extra hand…"

"Oh noooooo," I replied quickly, noticing she was using that damn puppy dog face again. I tried to look away, but even then I could still feel the weight of her stare. Damn Miley Stewart and her power on me. Somehow in some way, I found myself nodding. Next thing I know, Miley's arms are around me whispering thank you's from every direction, and I'm fixing the engine from under the hood of the car. John seemed pretty damn surprised to see that I was actually going to help. He didn't say anything to me, but I could tell he tried. I guess he just didn't have anything to say.

To be completely honest, the experience wasn't too bad. John was cracking jokes even through his worry and stress of not finishing in time. Miley and I were laughing and actually enjoying ourselves. By the time, I checked the clock, it was already 6: 30.

"Oh crap," I mumbled as I ran around to my jacket that was on the couch. I pulled out my phone to make sure it was true. "Oh crap," I repeated as I saw the same numbers blinking from my phone screen.

Miley walked over, wiping her oily hands on a rag. "What's wrong?"

"The performance is in half an hour."

Miley's eyes widened as she suddenly remembered the performance as well. She glanced back at the car, and sighed. "Go and get ready. I'll finish up the car here with John."

"Are you sure? Promise me you'll be there,."

A small smile crept up on her lips as she stepped forward and kissed me. "I wouldn't miss it for anything."

I kissed her again quickly before grabbing my jacket and running out the door. By the time I had gotten home, I grabbed my guitar, brushed my curls (though it didn't really do much), and tried my best to look fairly decent. After doing all of that, I checked the clock to see I had only 10 minutes left before it was my time to get on stage. I ran out the door like a freaking maniac and managed to get there 5 minutes before. There were about eight to nine other people with instruments, doing the same exact thing I was. I could feel my nerves beginning to pile up, and I swear sweat was pooling around my shirt.

I glanced out at the huge crowd, which didn't help my nerves one bit, and I was disappointed to see Miley hadn't arrived yet. Suddenly, from the corner of my eye, I saw the familiar flash of auburn hair, and before I knew it Miley was standing right in the front row with the biggest smile I had ever seen her wear. She was still in the jump suit from the repair shop, and oil stains were all over her face, but she still never looked as stunning.

"That's my girlfriend right there!" I told the guy with a mustache next to me proudly. The mustache guy glanced at me, rolled his eyes, and walked away. Fine then. Be that way, I thought to myself. Before I knew it, names and names were being called up. The crowd seemed to be riled up enough. Only one or two people we boo'ed of the stage. My chances were good.

Sooner or later, the nerves started building up again. I found myself running my hands through my short curls more and more with each passing second. Suddenly a loud voice called out from a few feet away, and I looked up to see the mustache guy from earlier staring at me. "Weird dude with the girlfriend! You're up!"

I felt my mouth gape open when I realized what he meant. Being the klutz I was, I stumbled on my own feet as I climbed the stairs to the stage. Luckily I was still behind a black screen so my moment of complete humiliation wasn't exactly public yet. The minute my foot touched that wooden stage, I felt a surge of anticipation flow through my blood. I hadn't been on a stage like this since high school, I thought to myself. It was at that moment, as I stepped up to the microphone that all those years of performing and singing came back to me. This was what I loved to do.

I wrapped the guitar strap around me and glanced out at the crowd. The spotlights were so bright I felt like I was going blind, but I managed to meet the pair of gray eyes I was looking for through the sea of the audience. She was flashing me a large smile that made my heart melt. This is for her, I told myself. This is for her.

"Hey. I'm Nick Grey, and I'm here to perform a song for you tonight."

"NO DUH!" I heard Joe's voice call out from the back of the crowd. I chuckled under my breath as well as the crowd.

"Well I wrote this song… Some special things happened in my life recently, and it inspired me to do some things that I've never even thought of doing in my entire life. What I'm doing right now is one of them," I grinned, feeling myself loosen up just a bit more. My eyes were still staring straight into that familiar sea of gray as I continued. "I guess what I'm trying to say is that in every lifetime, you meet that one person that blazes through your life like a wildfire, and you know that after that, nothing would ever be the same again. Because nothing would ever be able to compare…"

I felt a smile forming on my lips as I began to strum the intro of the song that I had just written last night. "I want to dedicate this song to _my_ wildfire. Every word is for you."

I let the chord rattle out, as the crowd fell into a hushed silence. I opened my lips and began to sing my heart out.

If the heart is always searching,  
Can you ever find a home?  
I've been looking for that someone,  
I'll never make it on my own  
Dreams can't take the place of loving you,  
There's gotta be a million reasons why it's true.

When you look me in the eyes,  
And tell me that you love me.  
Everything's alright,  
When you're right here by my side.  
When you look me in the eyes,  
I catch a glimpse of heaven.  
I find my paradise,  
When you look me in the eyes.

More and more, I start to realize,  
I can reach my tomorrow,  
I can hold my head up high,  
And it's all because you're by my side….  
I can't take a day without you here,  
You're the light that makes my darkness disappear.

When you look me in the eyes,  
And tell me that you love me.  
Everything's alright,  
When you're right here by my side.  
When you look me in the eyes,  
I catch a glimpse of heaven.  
I find my paradise,  
When you look me in the eyes.

I struck the last chord, letting it vibrate through the crowd before stepping back from the microphone. It wasn't until the final chord was struck that it was swallowed up by the loud eruption of the applause. Everyone was standing up and clapping by the time I looked back into the crowd. Even through the hysteria, I met the gray eyes of Miley Stewart as she clapped her hands together, the largest smile I had ever seen her make playing on her lips proudly. Tears were forming in her eyes as she stood up and applauded and applauded along with the crowd.

Smiling, I brought two fingers to my lips before bringing it back out towards her direction. I didn't care about the hundred other people out there. I wanted her to know that it was only her. This was all for her. I took one last bow before exiting the stage. By the time I had gotten back, hugs and congratulations were being thrown at me from every direction. Demi and Joe ran out from the back of the crowd, and they both threw me in a three way hug. I laughed as they raved on and on about the performance.

"WHAT THE HELL, NICK? WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN HIDING THAT VOICE?" Demi squealed as she slapped me on the shoulder. I just grinned and shrugged, not really knowing what to tell her. Joe patted me on the back proudly.

"BOOYAH. This is my best friend, people! BE JEALOUS! Oh yeahhh. You're a loser. You're a loser. THIS GUY is a WINNER." Joe teased all the other singers that passed by. Demi slapped Joe in the back of his head. Luckily, I wasn't the victim this time.

"Shut up, Joseph. Have you ever heard of sportsmanship… God. And you weren't even part of the competition."

Joe merely smirked as he threw his arm around me. "I don't care. Nick, my friend. You're going to take the world by surprise… And you better be inviting me to those crazy Hollywood parties or I'm going to kick your butt in a ditch."

I chuckled under my breath. "Sure, Joe. Sure."

Demi pulled Joe away to go find their seats again for the awards ceremony, and I found myself swallowed up in a huge crowd of people. Surprisingly, I couldn't find the one person who actually mattered the most. Suddenly, a pair of arms wrapped around my back and I turned around to find Miley Stewart standing there with tears in her eyes and a smile that reached from ear to ear. I wrapped her in my arms and pulled her off her feet. "I loved it, I loved it , I loved it!" she repeated over and over again as I held her. Her arms were wrapped tightly around my neck, and her head rested right at the base of my neck.

"Did you really?" I asked as we finally pulled away.

She looked at me through tearing eyes and nodded. "I loved it so much."

I tilted her face up to meet mine. I wiped a stray tear falling down her cheek. "Then why are you crying?"

She wrapped her arms around me again, and I kissed her hair trying to calm her down. "Because," she finally whispered in a soft voice. "No one's every done anything like this for me. Not even close."

Suddenly, the stage call for all the contestants to get back for the awards ceremony caught both our attentions. Miley pulled away, still tearing and I tried to kiss as much of them away. "You have to go, Nick," Miley laughed softly as she moved away. "Go pick up your trophy."

I chuckled softly. "I don't even know if I won yet."

"Well, you deserve to."

"Well, not all the judges are my gorgeous girlfriend," I laughed kissing her one more time, before running up the stage with the rest of the contestants. I could see Demi, Joe, Selena, and Taylor all sitting in one huge cluster in the crowd, and their hooting just got louder as I stepped up. I felt my face heat up, but I wasn't exactly embarrassed at them. They were my friends, and I think I actually felt proud to have them.

"Well, the time has come to crown the winner of the 200th anniversary Talent Contest."

I felt the nerves enter through me again as I stared at the trophy and check sitting just a few feet away from me. It wasn't exactly the trophy that I wanted, but rather the check. I already knew what I would do with it if I won. "And the winner of the year of 2010 is…"

The crowd had gone silent, and it felt as if time stopped for just a few moments. All I could see was my friend's proud stares and Miley Stewart's beautiful smile beaming at me from yards away. Before I realized what had happened, the trophy and check was being pushed into my hands and everyone was standing up in a flurry of applause and shouts. I had won, I realized. I won… I FREAKING WON!

By the time I got off the stage, I was once again surrounded by hugs and congratulations. Everyone wanted to see my trophy, and I actually felt something I hadn't felt in years. I felt proud of myself. For once, I wasn't calling my life worthless and pointless. For the first time since high school, I actually won something. For the first time since high school, I actually did something I was proud of.

"Did I not tell you?" a sweet voice asked as I wrapped her in my arms again.

"Thank you. I wouldn't have done any of this without you."

Miley's lips twisted into a sly smile. "I didn't have anything to do with what you did on that stage. It was all you." I just grinned and kissed her.

As I pulled away, I watched Taylor and Selena approaching. Taylor threw me into a huge hug, and I exchanged an awkward wave with Selena. "So what are you going to do with that huge check?" Taylor squealed excitedly.

"I don't know," I shrugged, though I did. "Maybe buy more animal statues?" I teased with a smirk.

"Oh my god!" Taylor's baby blue eyes widened in shock. "YOU COLLECT THEM TOO?"

"CELEBRATION AT MY HOTEL!" Joe yelled to everyone as he held my trophy up high for everyone to see. I laughed as Demi actually agreed with him. Before I followed him, I turned around to face Miley as I remembered something.

"Wait. What happened to Old John's car? Did you get to finish?"

I watched as Miley's smile dropped slowly, and I felt my own heart drop. Instead of following the crowd going towards the celebration party, I grabbed Miley's hand and went the opposite direction to the garage that I never thought I would purposely go to in my life. We walked through the surprisingly unlocked door and found Old John sitting in a fold up chair next to it. I glanced at the beauty standing in front of him.

"Is it done?" I asked, glancing at the sleek crimson Mustang. Old John turned around with a beer in his hands.

"It doesn't matter anymore," Old John mumbled with a defeated tone. "It's too late. The car show's over."

Miley and I shared a look before stepping up to get a closer view of the car. All the time he had spent on it definitely paid off. "It's beautiful, John," I managed to say. I watched as his lips actually twist into a small smile.

"I worked so hard on it…"

"We know," we tried to smile encouragingly. "Beth would have been proud no matter what."

To be honest, I still had no idea who Beth was, but I knew she was someone special to the old guy. He wouldn't have gone through all this trouble if she wasn't. He looked up at us with a sad gaze. "You know about Beth?"

I took a seat on a few boxes opposite from John. Miley did the same. "We know that you did this for her."

"Who is she? You said I remind you of her. Was she your wife?" Miley asked slowly. I was about to tell her that he had no wife, but John surprised me by nodding.

"_Was _my wife. We got married when we were 18." For a second, John actually looked a little happy, as if just remembering made him feel better. It was weird for me to know so much about John, but Miley kept going.

"Tell us about her," she smiled softly. John exhaled a long shuddering sigh that seemed to rattle from the base of his lungs.

"I met her on vacation while I was in Maine. She was there vacationing with her family too. They were a rich kind; owned a lot of southern money. We met at the ferry. She lost her purse, and I had been the one to find it. She was so head- strong," he chuckled under his ragged breath. "She must have denied my offer for a date over several times before she finally agreed. I think she first did it just to shut me up… Well, we went dancing that night. She was a terrific dancer, and I was a complete mess next to her, but she loved to do it, so I always took her. She loved to drive too. This was the car that we used that summer. She loved it so much that she always demanded she was behind the wheel. She was a car fanatic just like you, Miley," John smiled, and I could tell Miley was smiling back. "She said she wanted to fix up this car with me, and after, put in a show for the world to see. I promised her that. It was one of the last promises I made for her… Well, by the end of summer, her parents made it very clear that they didn't like me. I wasn't good enough to live up to their family expectations, and they banned her from ever seeing me again. We made a plan that night to drive off and get married, and build a life of our own by ourselves… And we did… We drove down to a small city in New York and got married. It only lasted a few days before our car broke down somewhere in Brooklyn, and she had to call her parents for help."

He paused and shut his eyes, almost as if he were about to go to sleep. "They arrived by the next day. They didn't say anything to me, but they took her. They took her, and they drove away… And she let them… I let them. I didn't do anything to stop them… That was the last time I ever saw Beth."

The garage had grown silent as I sat there, not knowing what to say. "You've never heard from her once?" Miley finally asked curiously.

John paused for a second before answering. "I got a call a few years ago from a lawyer who said I had been left something."

"Like someone just gave it to you?"

"No," he shook his head slowly. "It was for a will… Beth died five years ago, and she left me something in her will… I hadn't seen her in over 60 years, and she left me something."

"It was the car wasn't it?" my voice broke through. I didn't even notice I had said it, until it came out of my mouth. Old John nodded slowly and clenched his wrangled hands together in a fist.

"Her parents had taken it when they took her away. I thought when she gave it back to me, it was her way of telling me to keep my promise…"

A soft strangled sound broke through the air, and I watched as Old John started to cry. It felt so wrong to see someone like John cry, but at the same time I knew everyone had a weakness. This was his. We sat there for what felt like hours. No one said anything, but instead we just sat there staring at the finished work that John had worked over 5 long years on. By the time, John had stopped crying, I found myself speaking up again.

"It's perfect, John. Beth would have been so proud."

The 78 year old man closed his eyes as if letting a memory take hold of him. "I hope so."


	12. Day Eleven

**_A/N: OMGGGG! I know. I uploaded a new chapter. Hahaa. It's not that good. I wrote the first half like a month before, and I tried my best to have some closure in the end. I'll think about writing the next chapter, but I'm honestly kind of lost. This might be the latest chapter for awhile. But who knows._**

**_I'm starting a mini story called All Beautiful Things if you haven't read it yet. It's really short chapters though, because I'm originally uploading it on youtube, which can't hold much. Enjoy this chapter, and I'll try my best to write more. (WARNING: It's really horrible. I know.)_**

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"Good morning," I smiled softly as I saw Miley sweeping the floor of the kitchen. "You really can't stop yourself, huh?" I smirked at her concentrated attempt to gather all the dust into the small dust pan. I didn't even know I owned a damn broom. She glanced up, a few strands of auburn hair escaping her loose ponytail and framing her face.

"Sorry. I couldn't help it," she answered quickly before taking one last sweep and settling the broom down on its side. She walked over to me with a strained smile and kissed me spontaneously. I pulled back and stared into her gray eyes, searching for something.

"What's wrong?"

She raised an innocent eyebrow. "Nothing's wrong."

"You're cleaning the house like crazy, you're kissing me like a damn maniac… not that I'm complaining about it, but c'mon. Something is wrong. What is it?"

She sighed and glanced down at her bare feet. "Can we talk about it later? It's not really morning talk."

I looked into those beautiful sea of gray and sighed. "Fine, fine. But at least try to look like you're not being tortured. I don't want the neighbors to get the wrong idea," I smirked, my voice turning into a teasing tone as I smiled down at her. She laughed softly and tip- toed to kiss me quickly before pulling away.

"Now where's the food?"

* * *

"So what do you guys want to do today?" Joe asked as he scraped a piece of gum off his damn shoe with a twig. Oh, isn't he lovely.

"Let's do something really fun!" Taylor squealed as she jumped up from her seat.

"Noooo, Taylor. We're just going to find the most boring thing on earth and have a kick at that," Demi mumbled, obviously in a bad mood. I mean, she was usually the one who would get ticked off at Taylor the most, but she was usually subtle about it. Now harsh sarcasm was mixed in, and Taylor actually seemed to understand that Demi was making fun of her.

"Yeah," Miley chipped in, trying to ease the tense mood. "Let's do something fun. What about we just go around shopping for today?"

"Good idea," I continued. "I think we've done pretty much everything you can do in this whole goddamn town."

Selena, Taylor, and Demi looked completely okay with the idea, while Joe shrugged it off as if not caring at all. I made a note to myself to figure out what was going on with those two. "Fine, fine. Let's just go," he mumbled angrily.

Walking side by side with Miley, it took every damn will in my body not to reach out and hold her. I hated not telling people we were together, but if we did, we would only encounter multiple problems. A) Selena. B) Joe and Demi teasing us until we're lying in our goddamn graves (if we're lucky). C) Tyler and Liam find out, get pissed that she's still here, and cut my neck off.

To be completely honest, I didn't really care about scenarios A, B, and C…. Okay, maybe a cared a little about C, but c'mon! Cut my HEAD off? But I guess the one thing that kept me from grabbing Miley every damn second and kissing the life out of her is because I was scared… Scared that she was going to look at me one day and change her mind. To be completely honest, the great Nick Grey was scared that a 5'4 23 year old girl would break my heart. And the one thing scaring me the most is that I'll be too into the relationship to get out.

Cause that's what Miley Stewart does, boys and girls. She digs up this huge hole, she smiles that breathtakingly beautiful smile of hers, and then you jump in that damn hole like there's no tomorrow. Well… Let's just say I'm on the brink of falling.

Okay, okay. I know what you're thinking. _Why the hell would a macho guy like Nick Grey be worrying and thinking about all that girly love stuff?_ (And if that's not your question, then um… too bad.) Well, you know what, here's the Nick Grey lesson of the day. Boys and girls have more similar thoughts than you think. Boys get nervous around girls, they worry about what girls are thinking, and they can be damn afraid of heart break just as much as any other girl. We're humans, not rocks.

"Nick," Demi shook me painfully out of my thoughts. I had almost forgotten how strong the pixie like girl in front of me was. (Did I mention she almost made it on the wrestling team in high school?) Thank god she chose cheer. I don't think Joe Locke would have ever dated anyone with bigger muscles than his. I slowly entered back from the world of my random mind rambling and looked into Demi's coal black eyes. "The girls are going shopping for outfits for the reunion. We'll catch up with you guys later," she motioned towards me and Joe.

I rolled my eyes and chuckled. "The reunion isn't until another week," I reminded her with a smirk.

"And why can't you just wear something that you already have? I had to carry FIVE bags of YOUR luggage on the way here. I thought they were at least for SOMETHING," Joe grumbled, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

Demi waved her hand dismissively at her boyfriend. "Those were just daily clothes and emergency clothes."

"What the hell are emergency clothes?"

"Clothes for emergencies. DUH."

"That's so stup—"

"HEY! LET'S GO GET ICE CREAM!" I called out, grabbing Joe by the arm and jerking him down the street before he opened that large mouth of his and said something stupid. Let's just say that I wasn't ready for a Joe vs. Demi showdown in the center of town. Joe just pulled his arm away from mine forcefully and stormed off angrily. I turned around and saw Demi had already stormed off the opposite direction too.

Miley, Selena, Taylor, and I all shared a look that basically said, _''sAssGetsKicked._

Sighing to myself, I nodded my head towards their direction to tell them to go chase after an obviously frustrated Demi. Taylor and Selena both nodded, and began to drag Miley with them. _My_ Miley. She flashed me an apologetic look before following Taylor, Selena, and Demi into a small dress store. It kind of just hit me that Miley Stewart was going to my reunion… as my date.

"JOE!" I called out, jogging over until I caught up to the dark- haired man walking like he was in a damn marathon. I grabbed his shoulders and pulled him to a stop. When he finally turned around, it hit me. I haven't actually looked at my best friend in the past few days. Well, of course I looked at him, but not closely. And right now, as he turned around, his dark eyes meeting mine, I finally noticed the hint of exhaustion sketched across his features. The way the glint in his eyes were fading into almost non- existence, the way the corners of his usual smirk seemed to droop. "What's going on?" I asked, worry and curiosity mixing into my tone.

Joe glanced at his shoes and stuffed his hands in his pockets awkwardly. "Can we get a drink first?" He nudged towards the small bar a few yards away from where we were standing. I stared at my childhood friend for what seemed like eternity, studying him and slowly noticing the small and big changes I was too careless to notice before. I nodded slowly.

By the time we got into the bar, Joe didn't seem to hesitate as he ordered a tall cup of beer, but by the time the drink was given to him, he just stared at the full cup, the white foam of the drink over- flowing at the brim, not touching it at all. "Demi and I…" He stopped and shook his head slowly, looking away as if not sure what to say.

"What happened? I thought you guys were doing great…"

Joe chuckled unamused as he brought his hands to the side of his cup, not exactly drinking it just yet. "I thought we were too… We put up a good show, huh?"

I shook my head slowly, not understanding what was going on. "You guys just seemed so happy."

"We were," Joe sighed slowly, not being able to meet my eyes. "Yesterday, I met up with an old ex- girlfriend of mine who just got in town. Demi found out, and I had forgotten to tell her, so she blew up."

"All of this fighting is because of that?"

Joe smirked sadly, but he shook his head. "I wish… but everything's been going downhill for awhile. I guess we just chose to put up a show for the next few weeks, because we had too much pride to show everyone in town that we were miserable. Absolutely miserable."

I grabbed the sides of my own drink and ran my fingers over the cool smooth glass, wondering how stupid I could have been for not realizing all of this before. "So what are you guys going to do? Are you guys going to break up?"

Joe shut his eyes and choked out a strangled sob. I patted his back lightly, wishing I was better at this comforting thing. It was always the one thing I wished I had. "I don't know," Joe finally mumbled. "I don't want to hurt her. She's my best friend."

I smirked. "I thought I was your best friend."

A small smile finally formed on Joe's lips as he ran a hand through his ruffled dark waves of hair. "You know what I mean, man. You. You'll always be my best friend, my brother even… But Demi's different. I guess there's always going to be that one person that knows every one of your secrets… Even secrets about yourself that even _you_ didn't know," he chuckled sadly, his voice becoming softer and softer with each word. "I don't want to lose her."

"Then don't."

"Thanks, guru," Joe smirked as he flashed me a quick eye roll.

"It's weird," I finally sighed as I glanced up at him. "Everyone in high school thought you guys were going to end up together, forever and ever. You two won 96% of the vote of Most Likely to Get Married."

"Well, a lot of things change after high school. We go places we've never thought we'd go, we've done things we would never even think about doing, and we meet people we never in our right minds would have expected to meet."

"Tell me about it," I grinned as a clear vivid image of Miley entered my mind. "I wish I could tell you what you should do, but that's not really my place to say anything."

Joe's shoulders heaved in disappointment, but I knew he understood. I patted his back, doing my best attempt at being the best friend I was supposed to be.

* * *

It was around 10: 00 when I finally got home. Miley was sitting on the couch waiting for me. "Hey," she whispered. "So you know?"

It was still pretty damn amazing how much Miley Stewart was getting to know me. Just from one glance, she could read my whole day. I was still deciding on whether it was a good thing or a bad thing.

I nodded slowly and took the seat next to her on the couch. "I know."

"Do you want to talk about it?" she asked hesitantly, wrapping her arms around my waist and hugging me close. Just having her there gave me some comfort.

"I guess it's just the fact that they had been having problems all these years and I never knew. That's what's bothering me the most."

"Some people get really good at hiding things," she whispered into my chest.

I felt my shoulders tense up. She couldn't know about Tyler and Liam. She just couldn't. "What do you mean?"

She pulled her head back and tilted her chin up to face me. "Just that Demi and Joe were probably used to hiding their relationship problems if they were able to fool us for so long."

"Oh… yeah. Right, right," I coughed under my breath awkwardly.

Miley raised an eyebrow at me. "Why? What did you think I was talking about?"

I moved quickly and crashed his lips on hers. When he finally pulled away, Miley looked slightly dazed, just like I wanted. "Nothing."

Miley brought her fingers to her lips, her eyes filling with stars. "What were we talking about again?"

A smirk curled onto my lips as I wrapped her tighter in my arms. "It wasn't anything important," I lied quickly, hoping she wouldn't do that freaky I- Can- Read- Your- Mind thing. "So, you said you were going to tell me something this morning. Something you remembered?"

The stars in her eyes suddenly vanished as her body went rigid. "Oh yeah," she mumbled, toying with the ends of her hair. "I just remembered that I went to school at Julliart on a scholarship, but I transferred to Princeton on my junior year."

"Why?" I asked curiously. From what I had seen, music was her life just as much as it was mine.

She shrugged her shoulders hesitantly and rested her head on the crook of my shoulder. "I don't remember."

I don't know what happened. Maybe I had known Miley Stewart for way too long. Maybe I had hit my head on some rock and didn't notice, or maybe, just maybe I was slightly going crazy. Because right now, I knew from just one moment that Miley Stewart was lying to me.


	13. Day Twelve

**_A/N: I know it's been awhile, but I think I'm going to continue this story. I might not be updating as much as I used to, but I'm definitely working on future chapters. _**

**_Hope you enjoy this chapter. I squished so many things in. The beginning was written like a whole month before the last part, so the tone I wrote in might be a little different. Hahaa. Anyway, REVIEW and tell me what you think! Oh, and review on what you want to happen and what you think will happen. Thanksforreadinggx3_**

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"You've been looking different, boy," Old John cocked his wrinkly old head to the side and examined me.

I rolled my eyes and took my usual seat on the worn out couch at the far side of the room. "You said that already… Four times."

John shrugged his shoulders and squinted his eyes. "I don't know. It's like you've got this glow in you. Like those pregnant women."

"So you're saying I'm pregnant."

"Pregnant with love."

I doubled over in laughter, but John didn't seem to find the humor in his comment. I waved my hand at him dismissively. "Just go before I laugh out a lung."

"Just saying, boy. Miley's changing you and you don't even know it."

He walked away at that moment, letting the words settle into my head. After a few moments of thinking, my short attention span traveled to thinking about why apartments were called apartments when they weren't 'apart'. I mean, seriously. Why not call them 'togetherments'?

"Boy!" John called out from outside the garage where he was taking the car out.

I rolled my eyes and sat up a little straighter, straining to hear the old guy's voice better. "I have a name you know."

"Someone's out here to see you. Some friend of yours or something."

Confused, I pulled myself off the couch and sauntered outside only to find Old John in conversation with Liam Powers. I could tell from the way Ol' John's eyebrows wrinkled together to make a white caterpillar that he didn't like the looks of Liam. The tattoos and piercings just might have had something to do with it.

"Liam," I mumbled quickly, glancing in between him and John.

A soft, lazy smile twisted onto the blond's lips as he stepped forward. "Nick. Long time no see."

I snapped my lips shut, not wanting to say anything else, or rather not knowing what else to say. John glanced between us with one of those weird looks. "You two know each other."

"From way back," I answered tensely, my jaw grinding together in the process.

Liam gave me a skeptical look, but nodded slowly. "Way, way back."

Old John wiped at his oil- stained hands and sighed. "Fine. Go talk to your friend for an hour, but you better be back before I kick your sorry butt to the curb."

Great. The day I WANT to stay at work, the old guy is kicking me out. I flashed him the best HELP ME OR THIS GUY WILL KILL ME WITH A FREAKING BAT look, but these things don't really carry on well with short glances. Suddenly, John's eyes widened as he caught my stare. Maybe he had read my thoughts after all!

"Stop looking at me like that, boy. It's freaking me out."

Or not.

"Come on, Nick. I think we have some things to talk about." Liam had already begun to walk down the street. With no other choice, I flashed Old John another death stare before striding forward until I caught up to Liam's quick pace. None of us said anything until we reached a deserted part of town. Yay. The perfect place to beat my brains out.

"Just do it," I winced, shutting my eyes.

"Do what?" Liam asked, his voice filling with confusion.

"Hit me, kick me, whatever you have to do. Just get it over with."

Liam actually chuckled. "I'm not going to hurt you."

"Seriously. Just get it over with." I definitely wasn't going to believe someone who robbed girls for a living. After a few moments of silence, Liam moved forward and shoved me lightly.

"There. Now can you open your eyes and talk to me?"

Finally, I slowly blinked my eyes open expecting Liam's fist to be placed right in front of my face, but it wasn't like that at all. He was standing a few feet away, a safe enough distance and his hands were stuffed into his jeans pockets. He looked almost nervous or shy. "I don't get it. Isn't this the part where you cut me into pieces and throw me into that dumpster?"

Liam sighed and flickered his forest green eyes at me. "Like I said, I just want to talk."

"About Miley…"

"If that's the girl's name, then yes."

I found myself relaxing in a way from just the tone of voice Liam had used. It didn't sound threatening in any way. Instead, it sounded almost curious. "If you're wondering if she knows, then no. Her memory is still gone." I chose to leave out the part that her memory of that day might eventually come back.

"Good," Liam sighed, relief filling his expression. "I didn't want Tyler to find out."

"Tyler doesn't know she's still in town?" I asked, bewildered. "But you saw her with me a few days ago… And you didn't tell him?"

Liam smiled sadly and glanced up at me. "I'm not always the bad guy, Nick. I might have made some mistakes in the past few years, but I'm still partly the same guy you knew in high school."

I stayed silent, not really knowing what else to say. "So what do I do about Miley?"

"Just keep her out of Tyler's side of town. You guys have something going on, don't you?"

I nodded shyly as I felt my face burn up. "How'd you find out?"

Tyler moved his shoulders in a small shrug. "The way you looked at her that night I saw you two… I can't really describe it, but it was there."

"You should probably go," I quickly mumbled, remembering John's 5 minute rule. "I have to get back to work."

Liam chuckled and rubbed at the back of his neck. "That boss of yours… He scares me."

I laughed and nodded. "Yeah, but he's a good guy."

Liam paused, studying me again. "You've changed since high school."

"I think we all have."

His eyes filled with an emotion I couldn't read as he took in my words. Finally, he took a step back and another before slowly walking away. "Hey!" I called out. He turned around slowly, as if not sure he had heard me at all. "Thank you," I smiled softly. I didn't say exactly what I was thankful for, but I knew from the way he smiled back that he already understood.

By the time I got back, John chucked a wrench at my head. "2 minutes late, boy."

I rolled my eyes for the 10th time that day and patted the old guy on the back as I passed by him. "Glad to be back too."

* * *

"Miley?" I called out, throwing my keys on the table. I found her sitting in the living room with her feet crossed underneath her. The TV was on some marathon and a girl in her teenage years was busily playing Mozart on the piano. I quietly took the seat next to her on the couch and kissed her forehead. "Hey."

She rested her head on my shoulder, and said nothing. She just continued to watch. The piano piece was long. It must have lasted almost ten minutes, but neither of said a word while we were watching. Finally, as the girl pushed her bench back and sat up to bow and take in her applause, Miley sighed next to me.

"I miss playing the piano. I wish I knew why I quit."

"Maybe you got tired of it," I shrugged casually. She shook her head quickly as if it were the most absurd thing she had ever heard.

"No. That's impossible."

"Okay… Maybe you wanted to be something else more?"

"No. I don't think so. I have a feeling about it, but I just can't remember why I feel so strongly about it."

I smoothed out her uneven bangs and smiled, trying my best to cheer her up. "It'll come back eventually."

After a few moments of silence, she snuggled into my chest closer. "You know, sometimes I wish I just stopped remembering all together. Especially when it involved remembering something bad. It's like reliving the pain all over again." She paused and shut her eyes as if lulling herself to sleep.

I rubbed her shoulders in silence, being that I'm most probably the worst comforter in the whole universe. "What can I do to make you feel better?"

Miley titled her face upwards and kissed my cheek softly, but she didn't give me an answer. Instead, she just turned her attention back to the TV as the teenage girl returned to the piano for another piece by Mozart. I watched as she raised the volume until the music echoed throughout the whole apartment, filling the room and blocking away the rest of the world from the two of us.

* * *

Miley stepped out in the same navy blue dress she had worn on the first few days she had woken up. I realized that she hadn't bought anything in almost awhile. I didn't know whether to be worried or happy. "Are you ready?" I asked, leaning down to make a mock bow. She curtsied and laughed along as she took my arm.

We entered the small elaborate restaurant, probably the fanciest thing you'll ever find in a town like this and was greeted by a waiter. "For two, please."

The waiter, who seemed to tower over us by feet stooped down to look into his tiny computer. He grabbed two menus before leading us to a table secluded at the back. It was perfect.

"Here is your table. I hope it's suitable," the waiter replied snottily. His voice sounded like he had damn oranges stuffed in his nose. I held back a comment slipping through my lips and just nodded, and I could tell Miley noticed my hesitation. She smirked at me and rolled those blue- gray eyes of hers before taking a seat.

"Hey. I was supposed to pull your seat out for you and do all that other gentleman stuff," I whined teasingly. Miley rolled her eyes again and let a laugh escape her lips. The simple sound made my heart beat a little faster.

"It doesn't matter. I love you exactly the way you are." She smiled and leaned forward to peck my lips with a short kiss. I felt my cheeks blush that damn red I always hated, but I couldn't help it. Miley Stewart could perform miracles on me.

"So," she finally said as our drinks arrived. "What's the celebration?"

"Nothing," I shrugged casually.

She snorted that adorable snort of hers and propped her chin on her hand as she leaned forward. "Oh please, Nicky. You don't take girls to these kind of places just for anything. What happened? Job promotion? You won the lottery?"

"Nah," I smirked as I reached forward and wrapped a strand of that beautiful honey brown hair around my finger. "I just wanted to make you feel special for one night. I know being stuck in that damn apartment all day can be kind of annoying so I thought you deserved something like this; something better."

Her blue gray eyes softened as her hold on my hand tightened. "Nick…"

"You know I care about you, right?"

I watched in complete captivation as those beautiful lips twisted into a smile. She leaned forward until our foreheads touched gently.

I tilted my head down to kiss her lips, but she simply giggled and pulled back. She was such a damn tease, but I loved her for it. "Oh, and there's a surprise after dinner."

Miley's eyes widened as she bit back a building grin. I always knew she was a sucker for surprises. I sat back in my chair amused as I watched her eyes fill with childlike curiosity. I knew she would be thinking about the surprise all through tonight, but I wouldn't give in…. Well, I hope not. Who knows. I can never tell what Miley Stewart could do to me.

"Can I at least have a clue?" she asked with a mischievous smile dancing across her lips.

"Nope."

"Just one clue."

"Nuh- uh."

"I'll kiss you right now if you tell me," she whispered slyly.

Oh crap…

"Um…," I stuttered. Damn Miley Stewart and her genius mind. I held back my manly temptations and continued to stare at the floor like an idiot. One look at those goddamn lips of hers and I was gone with. This secret needed to be kept until the perfect time.

"Fine," Miley sighed dramatically. "I guess you don't care about me enough."

"Oh please," I rolled my eyes as a smirk grew on my face. "Like you actually think I'll fall for that. That's just low."

Miley sighed again as she began toying with the plate of pasta in front of her. "Oh well. It was worth a try."

"No one gets anything past Nick Grey," I stated proudly.

"Right, Nicky. Right," Miley smirked as if she had a freakin' secret to herself.

"What?"

"Nothing."

I grumbled under my breath, "You are so frustrating sometimes." I snapped my mouth close suddenly remembering who I was talking to. The Queen of 'take everything seriously'. I glanced up, ready to take my punishment but instead I see her grinning.

"You have a little pasta on your face," she smiled as she reached over and smudged her thumb across the corner of my lips. I raised an eyebrow but she had already changed the subject to something Demi had told her earlier.

And that was that. Conversation ended.

* * *

"So is it time for the surprise?"

"What happened to patience?"

"Well, it doesn't really work when you've got me blindfolded and I have no idea where I am," she grumbled, though I could tell from the tone in her voice that she was enjoying it. I squeezed onto her hand as I led her through the door, making sure she made it all the way in.

"If you slam my face into the wall, I will come after you Nick Grey."

"I'm shaking scared," I teased.

She paused as a tiny smirk danced across those goddamn perfect lips of hers. "Did I ever tell you I've been studying martial arts since I was 9? Dad's idea for self- defense."

Crap.

"Wait. We're almost here."

I entered the room, pleased to see that what I was waiting for was exactly where it was supposed to. I walked behind Miley and began to untie the blindfold (which was just some old t- shirt I found in the back of my car. Shh. Don't tell her.) "Nick, what—"

The moment her eyes caught sight of the large sleek object placed only a few feet away from her, I could already tell she had fallen in love with it. But hell, that didn't mean that the stubborn Miley Stewart had to come out. "Nick. This is too much. A piano? I couldn't—"

I grabbed her by the wrists and kissed her until I ran out of every damn breath in my body. "I love you. This makes you happy, and I wouldn't have wanted anything more in the world than that."

"But where did you even get the money for this?"

"I used the money I won from the competition."

Her eyes twinkled with something I couldn't quite read, but she looked as if she was about to cry right there in front of me. I grazed her cheek with my finger lightly, and knitted my eyebrows together in confusion. "What?"

Miley Stewart shook her head as if laughing to herself before placing her hand on my cheek. I tried to ignore the feeling that captivated my entire goddamn body the moment her skin touched mine, because honestly, all I wanted to do at that moment was melt into her touch. What was I? A freakin' cat?

"Seriously, what?" I asked a little frustrated. I hated when I felt like I wasn't part of a joke everyone else understood except me.

"Nothing," she smiled up at me. "It's just that… you never told me you loved me before."

Aw damn. "Oh," I mumbled suddenly feeling my cheeks heat up. I probably looked like a damn plate of ketchup at the moment. "Is that a problem?"

Miley laughed again as if everything I was saying was so amusing. How could she stand there laughing and look so goddamn perfect, while I stand here, blushing my face off and probably looking more like a retard than I already do? Oh yeah. Cause she was Miley Stewart.

"Not even close," Miley finally whispered as she tip- toed to level her face with mine. She was so close that I could see every feature on her face, from her eyes to the curve of her lips and to the texture of her skin. I never had the guts to tell anyone cause I would sound like a complete stalker, but I loved her skin. I loved looking at it, I loved touching it, I loved kissing it. Goddamn. I even loved smelling it. It was always so clear and perfectly tanned at just the right places. And god. Those freckles that powdered across her nose. No one else would notice them if they weren't standing any closer than a few inches away. I almost didn't notice them until I had opened my eyes after kissing her, and there they were. Probably the best damn freckles you will ever get to witness. It was just one of those things you had to make yours.

"You do realize we've only known each other for 12 days," Miley whispered, her breath sliding across my cheeks like a mist from standing so closely.

"You've been counting?" I teased, even though I was too.

"Just shut up and kiss me," Miley giggled as she tugged at my curls and pulled her lips to mine. I cupped the side of her cheek with my free hand while the other held onto the curve of her back for support. If there was any way to describe how I much I love this girl's kisses, then Taylor might as well have been the next Einstein of the century. It was from the way her lips moved across mine, or the way she tasted, or the way it made my entire body feel like an erupting firework. God. It was everything. Absolutely everything.

By the time she pulled away, she rested her forehead right on mine. I couldn't help but let my eyes wander to those goddamn freckles I loved so much, wanting to just lean forward an inch and kiss them. "I will never get tired of that," she smiled as she fluttered her eyes open to meet mine.

"Me either," I mumbled like an idiot, the kiss still messing around in my mind.

"Thank you for the piano. I love it," Miley beamed up at me with one of her perfect toothed smiles.

"Can you play for me?"

She got this huge grin on her face as if I had just asked if she wanted 5 grand. She pulled away for a quick moment and the emptiness in my arms and chest where she had just stood felt so wrong.

"Are you coming?" she asked with a tiny smirk, patting the left- over room on the piano bench.

I shook my head and shrugged. "I like to watch you play."

Her lips twisted into a curious smile that held so many questions and secrets that just one of those looks made me go crazy. "Fine."

She began with a slow tune that echoed throughout the whole apartment. The melody suddenly reminded me how little sleep I had gotten in the last few days as my eyes began to feel like weight were pulling them down my freakin' face. I took a seat on the couch opposite to where the piano was now placed and rested my head to continue watching her. Miley Stewart. _My_ Miley Stewart.

Her eyes were closed shut as her fingers moved across the milk white keys, and her body swayed back and forth to the melody. Sometimes I wondered how a prick like me could have ever ended up so lucky to meet a girl like her. I definitely didn't deserve this. Girls like her were saved for princes, and presidents, and billionaires. People who made a difference in the world. Not me. Not even close.

Before I knew it, my eyes had drifted shut and I was already half dreaming. I couldn't tell much of what was happening, like all my other god- forsaken dreams. It wasn't like most of my dreams though. Firstly, Megan Fox was nowhere to be seen, and second, I was by the lake where we had first visited Miley's parents lake house. One minute, I'm lying down on my back on the wet soil, and next thing I know I'm floating on top of the lake water. Every few seconds, I would feel a panic rising in me that I would drown, that the water would grow arms and pull me under… but every time the arms would appear, a light would appear right with it.

And every time that light would appear the hands would vanish and I would be safe again. Finally, realizing I had every control over my dream, I looked closer to the shining ball of light only to see it was the shape of a person; a girl.

Are you an angel? I found myself asking, but my lips wouldn't move. Nothing would. Suddenly, I felt myself panicking as horror filled my senses. It wasn't until the ball of light reappeared just inches above me that I felt all signs of panic disappear. Whatever this light was, it made every bad thing go away. It was saving me. As if my mind was giving me a sign, I fluttered my eyes open to notice that Miley wasn't playing the piano anymore, but rather she was standing right in front of me.

Half- asleep, I reached out for her. _Could she have been the light in my dream?_

"I love you, Nick," Miley whispered as something warm brushed my lips. The moment I heard the words, something inside my chest lifted.

And suddenly, I didn't have to ask. I already knew.


	14. Day Thirteen

**_A/N: Just wanted to say a quick thank you for all the reviews, even after a month of not updating. Hahaa. Hope you like this chapter._**

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* * *

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"You butthead. You're going to catch a cold!" Demi's earsplitting scream slammed through me and everyone else's ears as she ran out of the car with a jacket clutched in one hand. Joe, of course, had decided to run around shirtless… Did I mention it was almost 40 degrees outside?

"Don't you remember this place?" Joe grinned. "We'd come here almost every day after school and just talk or do whatever crazy thing Nick over there would think of."

I stuffed my frostbitten hands into my parka and smirked towards my best friend's direction. "Well, not in 40 degree weather at least."

"I like the cold," Miley put in as she stepped next to me with all that goddamn beautiful hair let loose around her face like a mane. She had the whole 'bedhead' thing going on, but with her it actually worked.

"I don't," Selena grumbled as she shoved her hands further down her thick coat. I always remembered how grouchy Selena had been around the cold, or a rainy day, and oh god… winter time. Let's just say that around Christmas, I made sure to get the perfect Christmas present… if I didn't, well… Taylor used to call her the 'The Grinch' at Christmas parties. Let's leave it at that.

"I guess it's just the feeling I get. Like I just want to stay in bed all day and drink hot chocolate for the rest of forever," Miley Stewart giggled as she rested her body weight on me. I snaked my hand around her back and held her securely. It was pretty damn awkward standing there in between Selena and Miley. I could feel the radiation of annoyance pulsing through Selena's stare. I couldn't tell if it was just from the cold she hated so much, or I did some bonehead thing I didn't realize.

"I heard if you stand in the cold long enough, you can change colors," Taylor skipped towards the three with a look of determination on her face.

"What are you doing?"

"Trying to see if it's true. Shhhh. I'm trying to concentrate."

As Selena tried to talk some sense into her, Miley and I started to stroll after Joe and Demi. Joe was still skipping around with his shirt off, and Demi was screaming her damn lungs off after him. It was pretty hilarious to watch those two going after each other, but I didn't want to step in and just tell Joe to put the freakin' jacket off. I knew those two were enjoying it, no matter what they said.

For the last few day, Joe and Demi seemed to have been able to patch things up. They weren't fighting, but at the same time no one really knew if they were together. We hadn't seen them touch or hug or kiss in the last few hours, which was definitely out of the ordinary. In high school, those two were like goddamn rabbits. They were at it at every corner they could manage to find. Eventually, Taylor, Selena, and I all learned to bring books or magazines to read just to pass time when those two were off doing whatever… (I rather not know the details, though Joe has a problem keeping his 'escapades' to himself). Well, except Taylor of course. She always said books would give her stomach aches… Just imagine teachers reaction to that excuse.

"I think it's great they're trying to work it out," Miley said next to me as she linked her arm through mine.

"If you call that working it out, then yeah. I guess," I shrugged casually.

A small curious smile twisted across that girl's lips like butter as she glanced up at me like I was a damn painting on the wall. "You really hate showing emotion, huh?"

"Pshh… nah."

Miley turned back around with that goddamn smile still glued onto her face. "Okay…"

"What?"

"It's just that I can really imagine you through high school," Miley chuckled softly, those sounds of bells filling the cold air as a cloud of breath floated away. "The 'cool kid' who acts like they don't care about anything. They're just, 'chill' all the time. To them, to be cool is NOT trying too hard."

I stared down at her with my jaw twitching as I held back words. Finally, I mumbled out a quick, "Maybe…"

"Ha! I was right," Miley grinned triumphantly. I didn't say anything else, knowing she was pretty much right on the spot. But I mean, c'mon. That was what high school was about; acting like you didn't give a crap about anything. If some hot girl asked me out, I just shrugged and gave a vague answer. If a teacher asked me a question, I would give them the best 'I don't know, and I don't care' face until they moved onto the next student. Damn. Those were some days… The days I could actually still get away with it.

"What about you?" I asked curiously, nudging her with my shoulder.

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember how you were in high school?" I asked, completely expecting her to just shake her head and say she didn't remember like every other day she would tell me. But surprisingly, this time she nodded her head.

"Actually, yeah. Memories have been coming in like crazy these past few days. It's like every morning I wake up, I learning more about myself."

I looked her straight in those blue- gray eyes and studied her. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"There's really nothing to tell," Miley smiled reassuringly as she touched the side of my face. Even though I wanted to believe her, there was something the base of my gut that wanted to push on further.

"OHMYGODDGUYSSS!" Taylor squealed as she frolicked towards us, blonde curls and all bouncing behind her like a golden retriever on her head. "Look! It actually worked! I changed colors!" She pointed towards her face enthusiastically. Miley and I studied her face and noticed that she was actually looking slightly purplish blue.

"Maybe because you were holding your breath for the last 3 minutes," Selena huffed behind her. She never really was a runner.

"That's just silly," Taylor laughed as she touched her cheeks, her eyes still twinkling with the excitement that her idea might have actually came true. Hey, if I didn't ruin her belief in Santa all those Christmases ago even after she physically forced me to write him a letter, I wasn't going to ruin her hopes now.

Miley followed my reaction as I nodded like what she realized was the best damn thing they had ever witnessed in the world. Taylor's smile beamed with pride as she skipped over to Demi and Joe to show off her new 'findings'. Aw hell. I can already think about what they're reaction would be.

"Oh god! Taylor! Put your coat back on before you get cold! I am not taking care of your sick butt!" Selena yelled as she clutched onto Taylor's bright yellow coat. She's had that damn thing since high school. She said it made her feel like a bee hive… which I'm guessing is a good thing, to her at least.

"Who would have ever known I would see my friends chasing after each other and telling them to put their clothes back on," I stated dumb- struck. Miley giggled as she leaned her head on mine and we all just watched them. It still amazed me how fast Miley had seemed to fit in with us. In high school, people literally had to crawl on their damn knees just to be able to hang out with us one random day afterschool. It wasn't because we were mean or anything (well, not THAT mean), but I guess people were just intimidated by god knows what. But see, Miley Stewart wasn't intimidated by anything.

"So, do you still want to know?" Miley smirked as she tilted her face up to meet my eyes with hers.

"Know what?"

Her smile grew a little bigger. "How I was in high school."

I raised my eyebrow in curiousity. "Should I be scared? You weren't like, a man or anything right?"

She laughed that Miley Stewart laugh of hers and shook her head. "Not that I remember… yet. But I was pretty average. I was just in some AP classes, did music class, joined clubs, joined a dance team, class president, volunteer work—"

"Sorry, sorry. You were giving me a head- ache," I broke in, stopping her mid- sentence. "You call that average? Hell, my high school years were get by with a D in my classes, ditch all those annoying school assemblies and rallies, and um… Nope. That's pretty much it."

Miley laughed and kissed my cheek, those cool lips of hers barely brushing the base of my skin. It felt good to feel a little warmth in my cheeks from all this goddamn ice age weather. Even just with Miley standing right next to me, I could feel the heat radiating from her body. I suddenly understood what she meant about liking the cold. Except in my case, all I wanted was to be close to Miley Stewart all day.

"I don't know. I just remembered it a few days ago. I played way more instruments than I thought."

I smiled down at her and felt a question tugging at the back of my mind. I rocked back and forth awkwardly in my heels and opened my mouth to ask nervously, "So… Do you remember any um, ex- boyfriends I need to know about?"

Her smile twitched amused. "Hm. I don't know."

"You're evil," I grinned as I dipped forward and attacked her stomach with tickles. She giggled and ran away, her loose mane of hair billowing behind her like a breeze.

I chased after her, and thanks to my attempt of 'working out' (Doing 10 pushups and then walking to Burger Palace for dinner) a few months ago, I managed to catch her. I circled my arms around her waist and tackled her down to the ground, cradling her back to soften her fall. She was still laughing that perfect laugh of hers as she looked up at me. "You never answered my question," I grinned as I towered over her. Our legs were entangled together and my arms trapped her in between me. I had to remind myself to breath just from being so close to her.

"About my ex- boyfriends?" Miley smirked. "I don't think you need an answer."

"Why? Cause I'm not as hot as all your other New York big- shots?" I asked mock- hurt, though I did feel a little offended that she wouldn't even give up one little detail. In my mind, I was imaging models like those you see in those Abercrombie bags. Aw damn. How was I going to compete with a guy with Jesus' abs?

"No," Miley smiled as she leaned forward and kissed my nose. "Because when I'm with you, the rest can't even compare."

I feel my cheeks flush red, and it wasn't from the cold either. I brushed my hand across her hair, swiping away at her bangs. "I love you," I whispered. We had probably been saying it over and over again since yesterday, but I couldn't get over it.

"I love you too," she smiled.

"Hey, love birds! Can you at least hold your 'activities' until we can get in a room? God. Have some respect to nature!" Joe yelled teasingly. I rolled my eyes, wondering how I managed to stay best friends with this kid for so long. I sat up and held out a hand to help Miley up with me. Her cheeks were a little flushed and her hair had a bit of leaves in it, but she still managed to take my breath away from one look.

"Where are we going?" I asked as we finally reached the group of people, all of them finally wearing their appropriate clothing.

"Going to eat lunch," Demi explained.

Miley beamed next to me. "Great. I'm starving."

"Tell me about it! I'm as hungry as a horse!"

Demi raised an eyebrow. "You mean, I'm so hungry I can eat a horse?"

Taylor giggled at Demi like she was the funniest human being on earth and shook her head. "What are you talking about, Demi?"

Demi rolled her dark eyes and just linked arms with Taylor. "Never mind, Tay._ I'm_ just being stupid."

Since Demi and Taylor seemed to already be walking together, and in a deep conversation about whatever random rant she was on now, Joe and Selena walked together with me and Miley.

Suddenly, my phone vibrated in my pocket like an electric shock. Everyone glanced at me like I was crazy. Joe eyed my leg. "Nick, I think your leg is having a seizure."

"Ha- ha. Very funny, Joe," I grinned as I pulled my phone out of my pocket.

"Thanks," he smiled back with his famous cocky grin. "I try."

Chuckling, I looked at the caller ID and noticed it wasn't a number I recognized. I answered the call and replied a quick, "Hello?"

"Mr. Grey?"

"Yup. That's me…"

The voice sounded hoarse on the other end, but still very official like I was talking to a machine. "There's been an incident. We need you to come by to identify a body. We have a good idea who it is but we still need official confirmation from a close friend or colleague."

My face must have paled because Miley had moved closer and mouthed a quick, "What?"

I raised the phone back to my ear and felt my heard grow cold. "Sorry, but who's body did you find?"

"I believe you work with him. A man with the name, John Samuels?"

John Samuels…

Ol' John.

I walked down the white walled hallway, following the young man around my age lead me to a metal door. I shut my swollen eyes, wishing that this wasn't happening right now, but when I opened them, the man was already holding open the door, waiting for me to come inside. The room was cold, and even if we were inside, it felt even colder than the weather I had just been in only a few minutes ago.

We approached a table with a blanket draped upon a body, and I felt my throat seize up. I tried to persuade myself that it wasn't Ol' John. That he was still somewhere in that goddamn garage of his and working on a car or mumbling to himself about what a mess I was, but as I approached the body, my hope was diminishing more and more.

The young man pulled the blanket down to reveal a pale face, and I thought that I would drop the ground and break down crying right there. It was Ol' John all right. He simply looked like he was just asleep. His eyes were closed as if day dreaming, and his wrinkles and moles were still all in the same place where they were yesterday. It was still him. Even his little musky mustache had the little curl at the ends.

He's going to wake up any second, I told myself. He's just kidding around. It's just one of those sick jokes of his…

But I knew no matter how much I shook him, the old guy wouldn't wake up. I tore my gaze away from the body and met the eyes of the young man. He was just watching me for a confirmation, and when I gave him a nod he had swept me back outside the room and into the waiting lobby where the rest of my friends were waiting.

The others looked pretty sullen, even given the fact that they had barely knew Ol' John, except for the 'cranky guy with a wrench' from high school. Now that I thought about it, I wished they had known him better; that they had known he was so much more than that.

Miley's face was pale and her eyes looked swollen, but she wasn't crying. I've noticed lately that it took a lot for this girl to cry. I went up to her and saw the same false hope in her eyes when I had first entered the hospital.

I nodded my head slowly at her, even if it felt like bricks were pressing down my head. "It was him."

She bit her lips as if holding back a cry. "What can I do?"

I looked away from the rest of my friend's eyes. I hated letting them see me so weak. "I need some air," I stated finally as I strode out the waiting lobby and it's plain white walls. I didn't care that I had forgotten my jacket inside with Miley or that I was standing in 40 degree weather. It didn't matter anymore.

I strode to the hospital gardens, just wanting to walk away from everything. My knees gave out half- way and I stopped. Anger surged through me as I pounded the brick walls with my fists, slamming into them even after my knuckles turned red and began to bleed. I kicked and punched and screamed until my body couldn't handle it anymore. I crumpled onto a nearby bench and just sat there. After a few minutes, my eyes wandered towards Miley Stewart herself. She was standing at the end of the path, her blue gray eyes just watching me.

She had probably just seen my outburst. She probably thought I was insane. But when she approached me, she didn't say anything like that. She just sat there and held my hands until I managed to find the strength in me to talk.

"I should have come to work today… I could have helped him. Maybe if I was there, he could have been taken to the hospital sooner.. Maybe—"

Miley stopped me, or maybe I stopped myself. I couldn't even remember anymore. I just knew I had begun to cry for the first time in the last 5 years of my life.

"Shh," she whispered as she held me close. "You couldn't have done anything. It was just his time to go." She lay my head on her lap and began kneading her fingers through my hair as an act of comfort. I could already feel my sobs slowing and my body relaxing at her touch.

"I miss him already…"

"I do too. No one was really like him," Miley whispered.

"No. No one," I stated surely.

"I just wish I could have been there, to have known what his last words were or what his last wishes were."

A long pause took over before Miley found the strength to talk again. "You guys were closer than you made it seem," Miley stated instead of asking. I felt myself already nodding, because it was true. I might have complained about my job a lot, but Ol' John was the closest thing I've had to a father since high school. When everyone else left Samson to do their own thing, all I had was the garage and John. They were all I had.

"You think Ol' John is up there with Sarah?" I asked slowly, staring up at the sky and suddenly remembering the girl he had fallen in love with when he was just our age.

Even though my eyes were focused above me, I could already tell Miley was smiling. "Yeah, I really do. They're probably watching us right now."

That one sentence managed to make my lips curve into a small smile, knowing that Ol' John might not be as alone as I thought.

Wherever he was, I just hoped he was happy.


	15. AUTHOR'S NOTE: IMPORTANT

HI GUYS. I know it's been forever. But basically, I just wanted to update you guys with what's going on with me. So, I haven't stopped writing. I still am, but I'm just not writing in fanfiction anymore. O.O Hahaa. So basically, I write on a site called now. I've been wanting to write stories with my own characters for awhile, so yeah… So I just started a figment account and I'm on the basis of writing two new stories: One Last Dance and/or Because I Loved You.

So basically just go on and search One Last dance and you'll find me. My 'name' there is Fatima Valencia so if you see there's no Alexis, don't freak out. It's still me.

So basically, I MISSSSED YOU GUYS. I hope you continue to read my stories on figment. Make sure to comment and all that stuff cause I really love hearing what you guys think for every chapter.

Don't have a figment account? Never heard of it? … THEN GO MAKE ONEEE. Hehee. It's easy. And it's a really good site. Hope to see you guys on there soon. LOVEYA.


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